Insecurities
by iM1ns4N3
Summary: Lovino Vargas has never been able to compare to his bubbly brother Feliciano. What will happen when he meets Maribella? -Disclaimer- I did not create, nor do I own any of the Hetalia characters!
1. Chapter 1

She walks the hallways. She never talks. Its almost like she has no voice.

No one looks at her. No one speaks to her. No one sites with her at the lunch table. No one. She is alone.

She goes home. No one is there waiting for her like usual. She climbs the stairs to her room. The one place where she feels safe.

She opens the door. She walks to her desk and searches for the one thing that will help her enjoy life.

Her headphones.

A smile tugs at her lips as she gently unravels them. She plugs them into the device she is holding. She places the buds in her ears and is taken away by the endless melodies.

She wishes she could just fade and become one with the music. She is aware that it is impossible but she still hopes.

She still dreams.


	2. Chapter 2

I walk down the hallways; further into this dreaded hell hole.

I dread every minute I am forced to be here. Everyone expects me to be like my brother. Everyone compares me to him. Why cant they just see me for me?

Why cant I just be me?

I make it into the class room. Just as the bell rings, I reach my seat.

I sit next to antionio. There is an empty desk on the other side of me.

Antonio is my only friend. He doesn't compare me to my brother, feliciano.

The teacher begins to speak. Suddenly there is a knock at the door and the teacher quieted down. A beautiful girl enters the room. She is new.

She keeps her eyes on the floor in front of her. The teacher introduces her and she hands him a slip of paper. He read her name from the slip of parchment.

"Maribella."

It was a very beautiful name. When her name left his lips her cheeks were graced with a shade of red and the teacher told her where her seat was.

She sat right next to me. I blushed when she sat down. She had dark brown curls that bounced when she walked. She had a pale complexion. Her hair was short. She had a cute nose. She was not super skinny. She was curvy but not in a chubby way. She was about 5'5 and she was the most beautiful human being that I had ever laid my eyes on.

She never even spoke. She just looked straight at the teacher or straight at her desk. I could tell she was scared being a new student in such a prestigious school.

Many of the girls at school did not even look in her direction. They all shunned her. No one even acknowlegded her existence. I wondered if she was even real because she made no sound.

I just stared at her the entire day, worried that if I looked away she would not be there when I loomed back thus ending this beautiful hallucination.


	3. Chapter 3

The bell rang.

School was over.

Thank God. I made my way to my locker. I opened my locker and placed my books onto the shelves.

Once everything was in place, I slammed the locker door shut. As I slammed it I heard a faint squeek. I looked to my left and saw Maribella. She looked startled.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

She nodded and shook it off like nothing happened. She gathered her belongings from the metal containment unit, and closed the door. She then proceeded to walk to the main entrance. I followed her.

She exited the building and crossed the street. She turned left and continued down the road until I could no longer see her beautiful frame.

"Have you been stalking the new student?" Antonio asked me.

"I wasn't stalking her, I was just making sure she crossed the street safely." I replied.

"Sure, I totally believe that. Lovi, I know you want her. I saw the way you looked at her. What do you see in her?" Antonio asked.

"Cant you see her beauty?" I asked him.

"She is just a plain girl, there is nothing special about her. She doesn't even talk." Antonio said.

"She is much more than that. You must be blind." I replied. He was angering me.

"Hey, you barely even know her." He replied.

"But I want to get to know her." I said.

I waved him off and walked to my car. I crossed the street and started walking home.

When I had made it to my house, I noticed that the for sale sign next door had been taken down. I went into my house and walked up to feliciano's room.

I knocked.

"Hey, feli we have new neighbors." I said.

"~Ve~ new neighbors?" He asked.

"Si, we should make them a welcoming gift." I replied.

"How about we male pasta!"

"Or we could make macaroons."

"Okay!"

With that feli grabbed my arm and dragged me into the kitchen.

We spent the rest of the afternnoon making our favorite dessert.

When we had finished we put them into a dessert container and we both took them over to the neighbors house.

-Maribella's POV-  
I wish I could just fade into this music. I wish I could just be the music. I know it can never happen, but I can always hope.

I can always dream.

Ding! The noise rang throughout the whole house. It interrupted my thoughts. I rose from my bed and removed the headphones. I exited my safe haven and slowly descended the stair case. Once I reached the door I looked through the peephole. I opened the door.

-Romano's POV-  
The door opened. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was Maribella. Oh how I love that name.

"Welcome to the neighborhood!" Feli said in a sing song voice.

"We made you a welcome gift." I said.

I handed her the container. She slowly raised her head to look at my face. I was graced with a small smile. Then I saw her beautiful eyes.

They were a mixture of many hues of tan and blue and green and yellow. They were captivating. The lighting made them look even more attractive. I have never seen anything like them.

Feli noticed my staring. I hope he cant tell that I am crazy about the girl whom I have never even heard speak.

She motioned for us to come inside.

"Roma, how about you go on inside. I have some homework to catch up on." Feli said. I just shrugged.

I entered her home and she took me into her living room. We sat down.

I just stared at her, I still had used to her beauty. Then a thought crossed my mind.

" 't you speak?" I asked curiously.

She blushed and looked away from me.

"Please answer me, I would really like to hear your voice."

She opened her mouth as of she were about to speak but then closed it and got up. She walked around the room. She was searching for something. Once she found it she came back to me.

She held her phone in her hands and started typing. She finished and showed me the screen.


	4. Chapter 4

She showed me her phone screen.

It said:  
'I don't like to talk. I never have anything to say. I haven't spoken a word in several years. I realized that if I don't talk people wont notice me. If I just alienate everyone then I wont have to deal with bullies and I wont have to feel pain. Why would I want to talk if all it does is bring me pain.'

I looked at her face when she showed me that message. I looked into her eyes. I could see years of sadness. She has been alone for years.

Just the way she looked put a pain into my heart. It hurt to see her that way. She was so beautiful but I feel as if I was the only one who saw her true beauty.

"Maybe, if you want to, you could sit with me at lunch tomorrow." I said.(I blushed slightly)

She started typing again.

'I think I would like that.' It read.

"Hey can I see your phone?" I asked.

She nodded her head and placed the device into my hand. Her hand slightly brushed against mine. They alwere so cold. They were so soft. They were quite small compared to my own hands.

I took her phone and entered my number into it. I made a contact for myself on her phone. I handed it back to her.

She started typing again.

'Can I take a picture to go with your contact?' It asked.

"Of course you can."

I smiled. She lifted up her phone and took a picture. She smiled when she showed it to me. Itbwas just a plain picture of me smiling.

'I think you look quite handsome in this photo' her phone read.

I smiled. I got up and exited her living room. She smiled and opened the door for me. I stepped outside her house. She tried to make her way outside but her foot got caught on the threshhold. She was falling.

I caught her.

I smiled and looked at her and said.

"I think you are falling for me." And I heard a delightful sound escape her. She giggled. I helped her up and she was blushing furiously. I waved goodbye and made my way home.

Today was a pretty good day.

Just as that thought entered my mind, I felt a vibration in my pocket.I got a new message.

'Thanks for the macaroons. Oh and thank you for keeping me company. I really appreciate it. Oh I realized I never put my picture in your phone.' It read.

A few seconds later I received another message.

'New picture message'

I opened it to see the beautiful smiling face of the girl who I had developed a crush for in a matter of minutes.

I created a contact for her in my phone and added her picture. Her beautiful picture. Everything about her is beautiful. If only I could hear her voice and know how she sounds. Then I would feel complete.


	5. Chapter 5

I entered our house. Everything was eerily quiet. I ascended the staircase and slowly walked through the hallways. Finally I came to my room.

"Feli!" I called.

No answer.

"Feli!" I called a second time.

Still nothing.

I entered his room and no one was there. I looked around his room and came upon a note. It read:

Roma,

I went shopping for dinner. I got a call from grandpa Rome. He said he wouldn't be coming home tonight because he had other plans. You should invite that nice girl over for dinner. I should be home around 4:30 and we can make pasta. If all goes as planned it should be ready by 6:30. You should invite her over here to have dinner with us. I know you must have gotten her number because you were at her house for a while. Oh! Ludwig is coming over too, with his brother Gilbert. Everyone knows whenever Gilbert is somewhere his 2 friends should be somewhere near, so I invited Antonio and Francis over too. You should really invite her over so we can introduce her to some of our friends. Anyways, I will be home at 4:30, see you then.

Feli

I read the not over a few times. I decided it wouldn't be such a bad idea to invite her over. After all it would be nice for her to know who she will be sitting with at lunch tomorrow. Why did feli invite the potato bastardo over. I don't want him to know where we live. I don't mind the tomato bastardo that much but I hope the bad touch trio doesn't freak her out.

I got my phone out and started composing the invite.

'Hey, Maribella. Would you like to maybe come over for dinner at 6:30? My brother is making pasta. He also invited practically our whole lunch group over for dinner. Since you are sitting with us tomorrow I thought it would be a good idea for you to meet everyone. If you want to.'

-Maribella's POV-

I felt a vibration coming from the couch. It must be my phone. Who would text me? I mean maybe it is Romano. Oh I hope it is him.

I grabbed my phone and checked my messages. He wants me to come over for dinner. I have never been invited over to someones house for dinner before.

'Sure I would love to. Oh btw, what should I wear?' I replied.

A few minutes later I received another message.

'Well, nothing too formal, maybe just something you would wear to church.' He replied.

I let out a little giggle. I am excited for this. I know I wont talk but I would like to meet some people who hopefully will want to be my friends.

I rushed up to my room. Oh I have plenty of time to get ready. I have 2 and a half hours. I entered my bathroom and washed up.

After about thirty minutes of showering I went to my closet to pick out an outfit.

I decided I would wear my dark Jean jacket, a light green v-neck, and my black leggings. I am also going to wear my tan cowgirl boots.

I laid my outfit on my bed. I went back into the bathroom. I put some gel in my hair to keepnit from getting to frizzy and then applied some nude eyeshadow and navy blue eye liner. I finished getting my hair and makeup done. I checked the clock it was 5:45. I dried off the rest of my body and pulled each piece of clothing on. It was now 6:05. I decided I had enough time to whip up some brownies.

At 6:28 I was ready. I put my boots on and made my way to their house.

-Lovino's POV-  
It is 6:15. I just finished getting ready. I decided to wear my light green polo and my dark jeans. I figured for shoes I would just wear some converse.

I cant believe she agreed to come over. I know she wont talk. I will give her time until she is ready for that. Feli just finished making the pasts as I set the table.

Ring! It is 6:25 so I figure it is Ludwig and Gilbert. They always arrive before everyone.

I open the door to see the two brothers arguing like children. When they see that the door has been opened they both calm down and step inside. Ludwig goes right to the kitchen to hang with feli and Gilbert goes right to the table. He must be hungry.

Then only a few seconds later Antonio and Francis are at the porch. Antonio brought us some churros. That sounds like him. I give him a handshake and he and Francis go straight to the table.

The only person who hasn't arrived is Maribella. It is now 6:30.

There is a final knock at the door.


	6. Chapter 6

There is a final knock at the door.

I open the door. There stands the beautiful Maribella. She looks beautiful. I let her in and she hands me a container with brownies in it.

I took the container from her hands. I guided her into the dining room. I was mentally preparing myself for the scene that was about to play out in the dining room.

Maribella entered the room. She was slightly hiding behind me. She had grabbed my hand out of nervousness. I led her too her seat which was right next to mine.

She sat down. I sat down next to her and placed the brownies on the table. Gilbert looked at her. She had her gaze on the table in front of her.

Francis is got out of his chair, followed by Gilbert.

"It is your lucky day, you get to meet the awesome me. Kesesesese." Gilbert said.

"Mon ami, it is a pleasure to meet you. Ohon hon hon." Francis said.

Maribella took out her phone and typed a message and sent it too me.

'they are kind of freaking me out. ' I just laughed at her message. She giggled too.

she typed up another message to show them.

'hi, my name is Maribella. I'm not completely a mute but I don't enjoy talking. It is a pleasure to meet you.' It said.

Gilbert and Francis looked at her dumbfoundedly. They were both shocked that she did not make any move to hug them or even blush. Most girls fall head over heals for them.

she switched numbers with all three of them so that she could talk to them.

Ludwig and Feli exited the kitchen together. Everyone except for Maribella knew that there were dating. Feli waved and Ludwig gave her a small smile and introduced himself.

She typed him a message.

'Hello my name is Maribella. It's nice to meet you. I will be sitting with you guys at lunch tomorrow. I hope it isn't a big deal.' It said.

"~Ve~, Roma you invited Maribella to sit with us? That is a wonderful idea!" He said.

"she can sit next to me!" Francis and Gilbert said at the same time.

'I think I want to sit next to Lovi and Feli, if that is alright with you guys.'

All of the phones around the table beeped as they received her message.

everyone checked their messages. My cheeks heated up. Gilbert and Francis looked a little disappointed but were still glad that she would be sitting at their table.

"So, Maribella. Has anyone at school caught your eye?" Gilbert asked.

'um, one guy. But I don't want to get into it.' The message said.

i looked down at the table in disappointment. She already liked someone. It obviously wasn't me. Who could like a mean jerk like me.

my phone vibrated. I checked my messages. It seems as if I was the only one who got it because I was the only one who was checking.

'why do you look so sad Lovi?'

'I am not sad.' I replied.

'do you want to know who I like? Is that what made you sad?' She asked.

'Would you tell me?'

'Only if you promise not to tell anyone.'

'i promise.'

'Do you pinky promise?'

I took her hand and I wove my pinky around hers.

"I pinky promise."

'Lovi, I like you.'

I read it over a few times and then I looked at her. She was blushing bright red. Everyone at the table was staring at her. She started to cry. She got out of her chair and ran into the first room she saw.

-Maribella's POV-

I was blushing. Why did I tell him? Everyone was staring at me. I would never live this down. I bet he was just laughing at me like all of the other guys I have liked did.

I felt hot liquid drain from my eyes and onto my cheeks. I pushes my chair away and ran. I ran up the stairs and into the first room I saw. I hopped onto the bed that was in the room and started to cry into the pillow silently.

There was was a knock at the door.

-Lovino's POV-

I got got up from the table.

"Would you guys mind if I go talk to her?" I asked.

they all nodded and I walked up the stair case. She was in my room.

i knocked on the door but I heard no answer. I slowly entered the room. She was crying into my pillow.

I gently sat sat down onto my bed. I gently stroked her back and she looked up at me.

"I like you too. Why did you run away before I could answer?" I asked.

she pulled put her phone to start to text but I took it out of her hands.

"I want to hear your beautiful voice." I said.

she opened her mouth to speak and the most beautiful sounding words came from her vocal chords.

"I just figured that you didn't like me back and that I was making a fool of myself." She said.

"I think I really like you. Would you at be want to go out sometime?" I asked. The blush spreading from my cheeks to my ears.

"I would love to." She said with a giggle.

i reached towards her face and rubbed the running makeup off with my thumbs. Then I lightly kissed her on the lips. She kissed me back.

Her lips are so soft. The kiss is way more than I would have ever expected.

It was perfect. Just like her.


	7. Chapter 7

We both made our way to the bathroom across the hall.

I placed her on the counter. Her makeup was running down her cheeks from her previous tears. I grabbed a warm wash cloth and wiped away the evidence of her tears.

She just sat on the counter and watched me. When I finished I helped her down and let her do anything else she deemed necessary.

She just looked at herself and I saw an expression of disgust and creased eyebrows.

"you are beautiful. You are perfect. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. Why are you making that face?" I asked her.

She opened her mouth to speak. I nodded to let her know that I wanted her to speak, not type.

"I look horrible. I look like I got hit by a bus. I am chubby, I am not even remotely pretty. What do you see in me?"

"You are perfect. Everything about you from your cute little nose to your beautiful curves. It's all perfect. Why don't you see it?" I asked.

she just shrugged her shoulders and grabbed my hand. We walked back down stairs and made our way to the dining room.

her chair was still on the floor like before as everyone was silent. They all looked up at us when we walked back. She was slightly hiding behind me, away from everyone's eyes. She was grasping onto my hand as if she let go she would fall.

Feli got out of his chair and rushed to Maribella.

"Are you okay Bella?" He asked her. She just nodded and scooched closer to me. She hid her face in my back.

she pulled out her phone and started typing.

ding, beep, ring

'I am sorry I ruined dinner for everyone. I just didn't feel good.' It read.

"You didn't ruin anything. How about we all sit back down and get to know you better." I said.

She nodded and I walked with her back to the table. She was still holding onto my hand. She was shaking slightly.

She sat down and picked up her fork and played around with the pasta. She finally got some on her dork and actually ate some. I had not seen her eat anything tonight.

"Bella, do you like Italian food?" Feli asked.

'I am half Italian. My mother is from Italy, and my father is German and Spanish, but we use more Spanish in my house.' Her message read.

"So you speak the language of love?" Antonio asked.

'Si, yo hablo español.' Her next message said.

"Cuantos años tienes?" Antonio asked.

'Tengo diecisiete años.' Her message said.

All of us had taken a little Spanish so we all knew that she told us that she was 16.

"Do you know German fräulein?" Gilbert asked.

'ja, Ich spreche deutsch.' Her message read.

"I like this girl." Gilbert said. Antonio nodded in agreement.

"Do you know Italian?" I asked her.

'No I never learned. My mom died when I was a child so I never got to experience any of her heritage. I have never even met my grandparents on that side of the family.'

she looked down at the table. I knew she was feeling more than a little troubled. I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. She looked up at me and I just smiled back at her.

Antonio and Francis both left around 9:30 ish. It is currently 10:00 and Gilbert, Maribella, and I are sitting in the living room watching the human Centipede.

Maribella is clinging tightly to my arm. Gilbert is engrossed in the film. He is really into it. I am blushing because she is holding into me so tightly. I pull her off of my arm and hug her.

She he wraps her arms around my torso and continues to watch the movie. I kiss the too of her head and continue watching. This movie is gross.

Ludwig and Feli come in right as the movie is ending. Ludwig pulls Gilbert to his feet and Gilbert waves goodbye to all of us. Maribella has her face buried in my chest. Ludwig and Gilbert both leave.

Feli plops down onto the couch to the other side of Mari.

"Bella, I am sorry to inform you that there aren't any women that sit at our lunch table with us. I am as close as you will get." He said.

'its fine Feli. With girls there is drama. I can talk to you about my boy problems and all the stuff I would talk to with a girl right?' The message read.

"Of course. I can be your go to guy. You can trust me with anything. We should go shopping on Friday. I love shopping for anything." He said.

its true. That's why I let him do all of the shopping.

she nodded her head and let out a cute giggle.

"So she does make sound!" Feli said.

she got up from the couch and stretched. She checked the time.

It is 12:15. A look of panic crossed her face.

"Bella, what's wrong?" Feli asked.

'Hey I have to go home. We have school tomorrow and it is fifteen minutes passed my curfew. Feli can I take a picture of you?' The message read.

" Of course Bella." Feli said.

She took a picture of Feli. He had his signature smile. She typed it into her contacts. Then he took one of her and put it into his phone.

I grabbed her hand and I walked her to her house. When we made it too her front porch, I knocked on the door.

the door creaked open slowly. A tall, burly, man walked out onto the porch.

"You are twenty minutes late." He said to her.

she nodded.

"Sir, it is my fault. We invited her over to dinner. We are your next door neighbors. We didn't know that she had a curfew. It is my fault. I should have been more responsible. I take full blame." I said.

"So you are our neighbors? Are you the ones who brought over a container of macaroons?" He asked.

"Yes, my brother and I made them as a welcoming gift." I said.

"That was nice of you. Well, you seem like a respectable young man. I am glad that you kept my daughter safe. Mari, next time you need to leave a note."

she nodded and gave me a quick hug before she left and went inside.

Today was a good day. In fact, today was perfect.


	8. Chapter 8

-Maribella's POV-

Last night, I came across a girl  
we met eyes  
And for the first time  
I finally felt alive

My alarm on my phone went off announcing that it was 5:45. I turned it off and sat up. I sleepily rubbed my eyes. Then I looked around my room. I crawled out of bed and went to my closet.

What to wear?

Oh! I should wear my purple sweater and my jeans. I grabbed the sweater and jeans out of the closet and pulled them on. I looked in my bedroom mirror.

Yup, I look like crap.

I walked led to the bathroom and attempted to make this mess of curls look presentable. I can smell bacon downstairs.

what is dad doing?

i finished my hair an makeup and walked down the staircase.

"Mari! Come down stairs please!" He said.

i walked into the kitchen and he turned around to look at me.

"Estoy cocinando tocineta y Los huevos revueltos. ¿Tienes hambre?" He asked. (I am cooking bacon and scrambled eggs. are you hungry?)

I simply nodded my head and took a seat a the table.

"Mari, ¿Estas triste? Debes hablar con el chico. Se llamo Feliciano?" He said in a questioning tone.(Mari, are you sad? You should talk with the boy, his name is Feliciano?)

'No Estoy triste. Estoy cansada. Quiero dormir mas.' I typed and sent to him.( I am not sad. I am tired. I want to sleep more.

"Oh si, Vas a estar tarde niña. Adios. Te amo." He said as he hands me a slice of bacon am I grab my back pal and head out the door. (Oh yes, you are going to be late daughter. Goodbye, I love you)

'Te amo padre.' My message read. (I love you dad)

I made my way to the school building. I kept my eyesight on the ground. I didn't want anyone to notice me.

Juat at as I reached the door I began to fall. Two strong arms wove themselves around my waist. Man I am clumsy.

Once I was standing up properly I turned around to thank my savior. I did not expect it to be ...

(cliffhanger haha sorry)


	9. Chapter 9

Gilbert?

"Mari you ought to be more careful. You could have really hurt yourself." He said.

I nodded my head and he set me on the ground.

"Do you want a ride to school?" He asked.

I whipped out my phone and sent him a message saying, 'Did you drive all the way over here to see if I want a ride to school?'

"Actually, I pick up feliciano and Lovino every other morning for school. We carpool. I only live a few streets over." He said.

'sure, a ride to school would be nice. Sometimes I am just to exhausted to walk to school and I hate asking my dad for a ride to school because he already works so hard to ensure that we have a place to stay. He does a lot for a single dad.'

"Well if you want you can carpool with us." He said.

I just nodded and walked over to his car. Obviously being the proud Germanic guy that he is, he had a Volkswagen. I just giggled and entered the car.

"You know you should laugh more often, it's cute." He said.

I just smiled and giggled again at his bluntness.

Feliciano, Roma, and Ludwig were already in the car waiting. There was one seat in between the twins, so I sat there.

"Hi Maribella." Roma said.

"Hi Bella." Feli said.

"Hallo Mari." Ludwig said.

'hi guys. Ludwig can I call you Luddy?' My message said.

"Not a school or in very public places, but when we are just hanging out you can." He said.

'I am taking that as a yes.'

Feli and Gil just laughed and Luddy shook his head.

'So where do you guys sit at lunch?'

"I will walk with you to our lunch table." Roma said.

'That would be lovely. Oh no! I think I dropped left my lunch on the table when I left the house this morning.'

"It's fine, you can shared some pasta with me. Feli made a lot last night so I am trying to get rid of some." Roma said with a chuckle.

I gave him a kiss on the cheek to show my appreciation of his kind gesture.

Everyone was too busy talking about what they brought for lunch to even notice. Roma was bright red.

"What's wrong Roma?" Feli asked.

"n-nothing is wrong. How long will it be until we get to school?"

"We are actually here now." Gil said.

Everyone got out of the car and grabbed their bags. All of the boys had two bags because they were all on the boys soccer team.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. We all have soccer after school so do you want to stay after and watch? Or are you just going to go home?" Gil said.

'I didn't know you guys were on the soccer team. I want to see you guys play.' I messaged.

"Well then we will be in the locker rooms right after school. If you want to wait there we can show you to the fields and then you can watch us practice." Luddy said.

I nodded and I grabbed Roma's hand. We all walked into the big building. I kept my head down and my hand tightly grasped Roma's. He could tell I was nervous. I got closer to him the closer we got to the school. He squeezed my hand to let me know that he was here for me. When we entered the school all these girls came rushing up to the guys. Roma pushed past them and made sure I was still with him as we approached our lockers.

A bunch of girls were not pleased that Roma paid them no attention. They all started whispering and glaring at me. Roma just looked at me and squeezed my hand again.

"Don't pay attention to those girls. They are just mad that you get to hang out with the 'cutest' guys in school." He said as he made air quotes with his other hand.

I simply nodded and tried opening my locker. Once I got the metal door open I placed my back pack along with all of my not needed books away.

All I had left that wasn't in my locker, was my history and English materials. I had the exact same schedule as Romano so he also had the same things.

We we closed our lockers and made our way to class. School starts in 20 minutes so we are the first ones in the class. I grab my english text book and open it to the topic we are currently learning about.

I skim the pages and while I do that, I start humming the tune to the one republic song, say. I have recently been having a mini obsession with one republic. My favorite song by them is secrets. Now that I think about secrets, I start humming the tune to that song.

After awhile I actually start singing it. I only sing when I am alone. I am singing very quietly but if you listen you could still hear it.

"Maribella? You are a beautiful singer. You should join the glee club, they meet after school on every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It is from 1:30-3:00." Roma said. He startled me so I abruptly stop singing and turn away from him.

I just shake my head and hope he forgets about the whole singing thing.

People led start to file into the class because it starts in about 5 minutes. Antonio takes his seat next to Roma and they start talking. Roma whispers something into Antonio's ear that makes Antonio smile right at me. His face is full of extreme joy.

Antonio tosses a note onto my desk.

'I need to see you after school tomorrow. Meet me in the cafeteria tomorrow at 1:15.' The note read.

I responded by tossing a note onto his desk.

'okay, but I can't stay after long. I have to meet my dad at 4. Nosotros vamos a visitar su Hermana.' The note read. (I always love to visit my dad's sister. She is my favorite distant relative.)

He nodded and said,"I don't see any problems. I will only need you until three." He said.

I nodded my head and the teacher called out names because class is starting and he is taking attendance.


	10. Chapter 10

"Maribella!" The teacher called.

I raised my hand. He saw it and nodded.

"It seems that everyone is here today. Okay class, we will be doing partner work today. We will be summarizing Falstaff's first speech from Henry IV. Do you want me to pick your partners for you?" He asked.

"NOOOOO!" The class shouted in unison.

"I guess I can trust each of you to pick your own partner." He said as he handed worksheets. "I expect you to be able to answer all of these questions."

I looked at the sheet and I filled in all of the answers. It was multiple choice. I have already read king Henry IV. It was a book I read last year in my English class.

"Hey you are working with me." This girl said as she approached me.

She grabbed my paper and started copying my answers. I tried to get it from her but she just glared at me. I turned away and let her use me becausse she scared me.

"These all better be right. I dont want to look like an idiot in like you."

I just sunk further into my chair. She tossed a crumbled piece of paper in my direction and chuckled as she walked away. I unraveled my worksheet and it had the word LOSER scribbled in the margins in pen. Why is this girl being so mean to me? I don't even know her.

"Class is over, hand me your sheets." The teacher said as I handed him mine and walked to my next class. I was the first one out of there. I did not want to see that girl again. I walked across the hall to history and set my books on the desk and waited for class to start.

"Maribella, is everything alright? You left class very quickly."Roma said.

I faced him. I smiled a big fake smile and nodded my head letting him know that I was okay. He doesn't need to be concerned with any of my issues.

-Time Skip to Lunch-

Roma and I walked to the lunch room. I had my fingers woven with his and was waking slightly behind him. We approached the lunch table and everyone waved to us. Feli, Luddy, Toni, Francis, Gil, and three other blond males were sitting at the table.

"Woah bros, who is the lady?" The blue eyed blond with glasses boomed. I flinched and hid further behind Roma.

"You are scaring her you bloody git!" The Green Eyed and Thick eyebrowed blond said.

"Guys maybe we should let Romano introduce her, eh?" The violet eyed blond said quietly.

"This is Maribella. She is a new student here. She just transferred yesterday. Maribella, this is Alfred, Arthur, and Mathew." Roma said. Each boy waved as their name was called.

I pulled out my phone and composed a message. 'Hello, it is a pleasure to meet you. I don't really speak so can I have your numbers so I can add you too my group message so I can keep up with conversations?' It read.

"Of course you can dudette." Alfred said.

We switched all of our numbers and swapped pictures. After all of that was done I sat down.

Roma handed me a fork and let me share his pasta with him. I love feli's pasta. He is really good at making it I thought to myself.

'Thankyou for sharing with me.' I typed to Roma.

"Any time." He said.

I blushed a little and excused myself so I could walk to my locker.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Roma asked.

'You are still eating. I don't want to rush you. I will be fine on my own.' I sent him.

"Okay but if you aren't back in five minutes I will come find you. I don't want you to get lost." He said. I just nodded and made my way to the lockers.

I found my locker and opened it. As the door opened a hundred notes fell onto the floor. I picked one up and fear it.

Dear whoever you are,

You think you are so special because you sit with the soccer team at lunch? You are nothing but a piece of foreign garbage. You should do everyone a favor and go drink some bleach. No one likes you anyway. The soccer team only lets you sit with them because they pity you. You are ugly and fat and a loner. You would be doing the world a favorite of you just died. You would definatley be taking up less needed space if you were underground, in a casket.

From, the minds of everyone at school.

I picked up a few of the other notes on the ground and read them over. They all pretty much said the same thing. Everyone wanted me to die. No one even likes me.

A few tears splashed onto the current note I was holding. I ran to the bathroom and right as I entered I found the girl who was my "partner" earlier.

"Eww, its that ugly foreign alien. The clothes you are wearing are way to pretty to be on that ugly deformed body. I am doing everyone a favorite by taking them." She said as her and her friends surrounded me.

Tears kept falling out of my eyes as they got closer.

"What are you going to do about it?" She asked.

I said nothing. They all started ripping and shredding my clothes. I was in tatters. There are bruises and scratches on my body.

She snickered and chuckled as she and her friends left. All of my tattered clothing was on the floor and I was left sitting there on the floor naked. Sobbing.

I hid in the last bathroom stall and quietly cried. Today is the worst day of my life. I cant even leave the bathroom because my clothes are gone. All that I have is my phone and the battery is dead. I knew I shouldn't have come to this school. I knew I should t have even tried to make friends. At every school the bullying follows me. No matter what I change about myself it always follows me. I cant do anything.

-Romano's POV-

Lunch is over. It has been five minutes since Maribella left to go to her locker. I can tell something is wrong. She would have been back by now.

"Hey guys, you can all go to class, I am going to find Maribella. If you see her tell her I am looking for her and to just meet me at our lockers at the end of next period." I said to everyone. They all nodded and went there separate ways.

I left the lunch room and started searching through all of the hallways. I made it to our lockers in case she was already airing there when I saw a huge pile of letters.

I picked one up and opened it. I scanned over every detail of the letter and my face heated up. This specific letter also had tears on it. Why would someone hurt her like this. She has never done anything to anyone. Why would all of these people be encouraging her suicide. Oh no! I have to fine her before she does anything to harm herself. The only private place I can think of for a girl to go when she is hurting is the bathroom. There are three different girls bathrooms.

I bolted to the closest bathroom. I entered it and started checking the stalls. I noticed there was a little blood on the floor and some blood on the last stall door. I stood there and knocked on the stall door.

-Maribella's POV-

I heard a person enter the bathroom. I quieted down my breathing and hoped that they wouldn't check this stall. Then footseteps stopped in front of my door. Oh no! They are going to hurt me.

Then I heard a knock.

"Are you alright?" I heard a male voice say. I knew that voice. It was Roma.

I got off of the toilet and slowly opened the stall door. My arms and hands were covering all of my female parts. I walked out with tears streaking my cheeks. He handed me his sweatshirt and his jeans. He was wearing a tshirt and shorts underneath all of that. I went back into the stall and put the clothes on.

When I had everything on as best as I could wear it I walked out. His clothes were big on me but they would have to do. Right after I came back out he pulled me into a hug and I went limp in his arms. He was completely supporting my body weight.

I started silently crying again onto his shoulder. He whispered words into my ears.

"Sshh everything is going to be okay. I am so sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone. I'm so so sorry maribella." He said.

I looked into his eyes and I just nodded my head. He picked me up and sat me on the bathroom sink. He grabbed some tissues and started wiping the tears from my face. I wasn't wearing makeup to school which made this a lot easier for him. He combed his fingers through my curls and brought me down off of the sink.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

I simply nodded my head and kept looking at the ground.

"I saw all of the bruises and scratches before I gave you my clothes. You are not okay, who did this to you?"

I just loomed at the ground and started to cry again. Tears rolled off my nose onto the floor. He is mad at me. He wants nothing to do with me.

"I didn't mean to make you upset. Please don't cry anymore. It breaks my heart to see those beautiful hazel, if you can even call them that, eyes filled with tears. Do you want me to help you gather your things and sign you out so we can go home?" He asked me.

I nodded my head and tried to walk on my own. I couldn't. My ankle was sprained.

"Here, I will give you a piggy back ride down to the office. We will visit the nurse, see the counselor, then talk to the principal and after all that is finished school will probably be over so we will go get our work from our teachers and if you still want to come see me play soccer you can? Or would you rather go home?" He asked me.

"I want to see you play." I said in a quiet strangled voice. He nodded and we walked down to the offices.  
-Romano's POV-

I feel horrible. I cant leave her alone anymore. I don't want her to get hurt again. How could anyone do this to her? All of these thoughts ran through my head as we walked down to the nurses office. I felt wet hit my shoulder and knew she was in pain. I got to the nurses as quick as possible and burst through the door.

"I need to see the nurse ASAP!" I said as I entered the room.

I set maribella on the chair and talked to the nurse outside.

"What happened to her? It looks like she got attacked by a pack of wolves!" The nurse whisper screamed.

"She left the lunchroom to go to her locker and she didn't come back for awhile. I went looking for her and noticed a bunch of notes had fallen out of her locker. All of them were encouraging her to kill herself. I ran to the girls bathrooms and I found her in a stall. She was naked and covered in bruises and scratches. The clothes she had on earlier were in tatters on the floor. I gave her mine. Can you check her out and tell me ifbshe will be physically okay? I mean she may have broken her ankle." I say.

"Wow, okay make sure to see the guidance counselor as well." She says.

We both re enter the nurses office and the nurse begins checking maribella out.

"I am going to need you to remove your clothes." She says.

"I will go wait outside in the hall okay. I promise I will be just outside." I told her. She nodded.

I could here the harsh intakes of breath as she got checked out. After fifteen minutes the nurse came back out.

"She is mostly fine. Her ankle is only sprained. You should probably stay with her as much as possible because she is really spooked and you are the only thing that calms her down." The nurse told me.

"Thank you for checking her out. I am going to see the counselor now." I say.

"Good plan."

I grabbed maribellas hand and I picked her up. We made our way to the counselors office.

"Do I have to go in?" She asked in a shy and barely audible voice.

"If you want I can go in with you for moral support." I said.

"Would you?" She asked.

"Of course I would."

We walked in and took our seats in the chairs across from the counselor. Maribella was shaking and holding my hand tightly.

"Why are you two here today?" The guidance counselor asked.

"Maribella has a problem and would like to talk to you about it." I reply.

"Does she talk?" He asked.

"Well, no but do you have a pad of paper or a phone that she can text or type on?"

"Here I will give you my number and we can text each other." He said.

"Of course." I said.

I gave her my phone and she started texting the counselor.


	11. Chapter 11

'Are you okay maribella?' -counselor

'...'-maribella

'Do you want to tell me what happened?' -counselor

'I guess'- maribella

'Well, I was walking from the lunchroom to my locker to grab the materials I would need for my next class. Well I opened my locker and out came all of these notes.'-maribella

'What did they say?' The counselor asked.

'They all were about how I should kill myself and how I am a waste of space. I have a few in my pocket if you want to read them later.'-maribella

'Okay, then what happened?'-counselor.

'Well I rushed to the bathroom where these girls were and they shredded my clothing and they kicked me and beat me and left me on the bathroom floor alone. My clothes are so ripped that nothing could fix them. I ran into the stall and hid hoping no one would find me and that I would mist die there.'-maribella.

'Do you know who these girls are?'-counselor.

'Well one of them was my partner on class today but all she really did was call me mean names and copy my work.'-maribella.

"Romano, do you by any chance know who maribella's partner was in class today?" The counselor asked me.

"Yeah she was partners with Alyssa." I replied.

"Oh okay well I will have a word with Alyssa tomorrow because school is over and everyone is probably already on their way home." He said.

"Okay. going to go take maribella to all of our teachers who's classes we missed to get our missing work." I said.

"Okay, I will have a word with the principal and then we will talk again tomorrow." He said.

I nodded and we walked to all of our teachers rooms. I got all of our homework and we made our way to the locker rooms.

"Do you want to come in to the locker room? I don't want to leave you alone." I said.

She nodded her head and closed her eyes.

I walked into the locker room. All of the guys saw that Maribella was on my back and all of them left, well everyone except the people that sit at our lunch table.

"~Ve~ brother what happened to Bella?" He asked.

"Are you alright love? How did you get hurt?" Arthur asked.

"Maribella doesn't want to talk about it. We already saw the nurse and the counselor. We got everything that we missed in class and she still wants to watch soccer practice. How about we all get changed and show her some soccer." I said.

"Of course, are you sure you don't want to go home dudette?" Alfred asked.

she shook her head no.

we all got changed and I have Maribella a piggy back ride to the fields.

"you can open your eyes now. I set you on the bleachers and Arthur is going to watch you because he pulled his hamstring and is out for a few weeks. I am making sure no one leaves you alone. We will be on the field. If you need me just have Arthur call me over okay?" I said.

She nodded and I kissed her on top of the head.

Then I ran out on the field to play.

The coach grabbed Gil and Francis. Each of them picked people to play on their teams. We were doing a scrimmage shirts vs skins. I was put on Francis' team. Alfred, Mathew, Antonio, and a few other guys were on my team. We were skins. I took off my shirt and threw it away from the fields. If we weren't doing any physical work I would probably be freezing. I had a few goosebumps on my arms but other then that nothing.

-Maribella's POV-

Roma took off his shirt. His pecs and abs were very toned and muscular. He had practically no body fat. He wasn't huge but he was far from scrawny. Most of the boys on the soccer team were lean. Roma looked extremely good. He turned and noticed me watching him and gave me a slight smirk as if he were saying 'like what you see?'. I blushed and looked away. I looked towards Arthur who was busy doing work.

'hey Arthur, how did you hurt yourself?' I messaged him.

"Well, I was doing this new thing called Parkour and I was leaping from one building to the next and I made it but the impact hurt my leg so I had to go get checked out." He said.

'Oh I have heard of parkour. I thought it was just fleeing with style. Well anyways, what do you like to do? Like what are your hobbies? I want to get to know you more because I want to be your friend. If you want to that is.' I messages him.

"of course I would love to be your friend. Hmm, in my spare time I like to play music. I like to bake, I enjoy soccer (of course haha), I like to keep up with current events by reading the newspaper, I also love to write. I really enjoy creating stories. It is how I really enjoy spending my time." He said.

Just as I was about to ask more about him my phone (which I was charging in the counselor a office, so it is charged and on now) started vibrating. My dad was calling me.

"Hmm?" I hummed. I don't really talk so that is how I answer calls.

"Maribella I need you to come home as soon as possible. Something has happened!" My dad said frantically.


	12. Chapter 12

I dropped my cell and started pointing frantically at Roma.

"Romano! Mari needs you." Arthur screamed.

Roma rushed over here in a matter of seconds. I typed as fast as humanly possible and showed him the message. He quickly scooped me up onto his back and raced to his car that he left at school the previous day. He drove me home and I got out of the car. I started limping into the house. Roma just picked me up and bolted inside.

"Sir, what is the emergency?" Roma asked.

My dad came around the corner. Right when he saw Maribella he gasped.

"¿Qué Paso?" He asks.(what happened?)

"Nada padre. ¿Que es el problema?".(Nothing father, what is the problem)

"Tu abuelo. Tu abuelo está muy enfermo." He said with a worried look.(your grandpa. Your grandpa is very sick)

I hopped off of Roma's back. I ran into my dad's arms. I began to sob. Today has just not been my day.

-Romano's POV-

Maribella is crying. Nothing seems to be going her way. Things have gone from bad to worse. Will she ever catch a break.

After 10 minutes her sobbig finally ceases. I am sitting on the couch and her dad is still holding her.

"Niña, voy a estar tarde por trabajo." Her father says.(I'm going to be late for work.)

"Lo siento papa. Va a trabajo." (I'm sorry dad, go to work.) she said.

He have her a look of worry and she nodded.

"Roma, would you mind watching my daughter for me? I would hate to leave her alone during this family crisis." Her father asked me.

"Of course I am staying with her. She has been through a lot today and I am not going to let her be alone." I reply.

He simply thanks me and rushes to his car to make his way to work. Maribella came over to me and crawled into my lap.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I say as I drape my arms around her and she snuggles into my chest.

She simply shakes her head no and I grab the remote and we start watching television.

Nearly witches started playing on Maribella's phone and she answers it.

"Hmm?" She hums.

"Bella can you hand the phone to Romano?" Feli says.

She hands the phone to me.

"Feli?" I ask.

"Where have you been Roma?" He asks.

"I had to get Maribella home because of a family emergency and her father wants me to watch her while he is at work."

"Oh, well I am going to grab your stuff from the locker rooms and everything and take it home. I will be over as soon as I get home, okay?" He said.

"Of course, I think she may want to talk to you." I said.

Feli hung up and I set the phone on the coffee table by the couch.

-Feliciano's POV-

"Guys, Mari is having some family problems and we need to do our best not to upset her, and to be there for her of course." I say.

"What do you want us to do for her?" My Luddy says.

"How about we all get her a little friend!" I say.

"I know the perfect friend for her." Gil says.

Gil drove Arthur, Luddy, Me, Alfred, and Mattie to the local adoption center. We browsed many animals until we saw the perfect one. We got all of the proper supplies for it and all crammed ourselves back into the car and drove to see our sad friend. 


	13. Chapter 13

We got to her house and I knocked the door.

"Coming!" Roma shouted.

When the door opened Maribella looked out.

"Close your eyes. We got you a gift because we knew you were sad." I say.

She nodded her head and did as I asked. I put the sleeping creature into her arms and it awoke with a yawn.

"You can open your eyes now. We got her for you." I say.

The puppy stretched and started wagging her tail. She hopped and started giving Maribella kisses. She was barking and wagging her whole body. Maribella's eyes were wide and she smiles a huge smile. The puppy attacked her ears with kisses and made Maribella giggle. I think we did a good job at making Maribella smile.

"What are you going to name her?"

She got out her phone and started typing.'I think I am going to name her Petra and I will just call her Petey.' It said.

"I think she likes her name." Roma said as the puppy barked in agreement.

Everyone pitched in and set up the puppy stuff in Maribella's room. Gilbert and Alfred were putting up the puppy gates.

-Gil's POV-

Everyone left the room to go play with the puppy while Alfred and I finished setting up the puppy gates.

Everything was set up. The gates were in the far left corner of her room by the door to the patio. In the little puppy area there was a puppy bed, food and water bowls, her basket of puppy toys, and a bone.

"Hey Gil, we should see if we can find her panty drawer." Al said.

"The girl has been through a lot Al, also we are new friends to her. Maybe some other time." I said.

"Fine, let's call everyone in here so we can put the puppy in her play area." Al said. I just nodde and I called for everyone.

"Hey guys! We finished!" I yelled.

Everone came running into Mari's bedroom. Mari had Petey in her arms. The little ball of fur was yawning and looked ready to pass out. Mari set her on the bed and she immediately fell asleep.

Everyone admired the sleeping animal.

"Hey Mari, maybe when she gets bigger she can come play with my dogs." Lil Luddy said.

"Ja, she will be a big dog." I said.

'I know she is an Irish Wolf Hound; They are my favorite type of dog. She is going to be one big dog. It's a good thing we have a huge backyard.' She typed.

I chuckled and hopped onto Mari's bed. She yawned. We all yawned after her.

bzz bzz.

'Mari, I won't be home until Saturday, My boss needs me to go to LA and I will be there until Friday. On my way back I will visit your grandpa. You know where the emergency money is. I will be home at midnight to grab my stuff and then I will be gone. I'm sorry sweetheart.' The message said.

Mari looked at the ground and a tear fell from her eyes.

-Mari's POV-

I don't want to be alone. I just want to be with my family.

"Mari, if you want we can all stay at your house until your dad gets back." Al said. All the boys nodded in agreement.

I opened my mouth to say words. I know I can trust these boys. I can talk to them. They are like family.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it." I say.

"So who is going to sleep where?" Mattie said very quietly.

"There is one guest room, my fathers room, and we have two pullout couches. I also have one air mattresses. I would say Luddy and Gil can share my guest room bed, Roma and Antonio can share my Fathers bed. Francis and Mattie can have one pullout couch, Al and Arthur can have the other pullout couch." I say.

"What about Feli?" Antonio said.

"I will blow up the air mattress and Feli can stay in my room with me. After all, he is the only one I can talk about boys with." I say.

"That's not fair. I should be the one sleeping in your room." Francis said with his Pervy smirk.

"She doesn't want a perv like you in her room. You would probably climb into her bed with her and do more than sleep." Al said. Everyone nodded.

"If I am to have any boy in my room with me, I either want it to be Roma or Feli. But I want Feli in here tonight because I need to talk to him." I say.

"Of course Bella." Feli said.

Everyone got to there designated sleeping areas and Feli stayed back in my room.

I blew up the air mattress and layed it on the ground. I grabbed all the blankets from the basement and dispensed them to each bed.

Once Everone got situated I took a shower.

I hopped out of the shower and put my PJ's on.

"Feli, can you comb my hair for me?" I asked the twin.

"Of course, I will be as careful as I can." He said,"So what did you want to talk to me about?"


	14. Chapter 14

"Feli, is there something wrong with me?" Maribella asked me.

"Of course not, what gave you that idea bella?" I reply.

"The girls at school, the told me that I am not worthy to be friends with you guys. They told me to back off. They told me that you guys were just pitying me." She said. I could hear the hurt in her voice and the tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"Bella, I think you saved my brother." I say. She looked at me questioningly. I just continued to rake through her curls.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I think he was going to kill himself. Before he met you he was really depressed. There is so much pressure on him. A lot of people compare him to me because we are twins. He and I are two different people. Nothing seemed to make him happy. Then you came along. I think you are his reason for living. He loves you. He knows that because you are new you wouldn't compare him to me. You met him first. I didn't stay long that first day we met because I wanted him to have a chance to get to know you before I came into the picture. You have seen him and not judged him. You haven't judged anyone. In my eyes you are the definition of what every human should be like." I said.

"Hey feli, can I go talk to Roma real quick?"

"Of course. I will be here when you need me." I say.

-Roma's POV-

Antonio and I ended up just taking off everything except our boxers. It is hot in her dad's room. Antonio grabbed a toothbrush and began brushing his teeth. I walk to the mirror and examine my bruises from soccer practice yesterday.

Knock knock

"You can come in." I say paying no mind to the fact that it could be Maribella. I just keep examining myself.

"Roma?" I heard a familiar feminine voice and turned to see the beautiful girl who's house my friends and I were currently occupying.

"Yeah?" "Can I talk to you in private about something?" She asked me with a serious no! She probably wants to tell me that she has fallen for my brother. She is going to tell me that I am a really good friend. I should have known that she didn't like me. I mean who would. I am just some big mean jerk compared to my perfect brother. I lowered my head and nodded. She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the laundry room.

"Roma, were you really going to commit suicide before you met me?" She asked question really shocked me. She loomed at me with worry in her eyes and I slowly lowered my head again. I nodded.

"I had the bottle in my hand the day before I met you. I almost took that pill. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Something was telling me to wait one more day. Something was telling me to put the bottle back in the medicine cabinet. Whatever kept me from taking that pill, whatever voice told me that, I am glad I listened to it. I got to meet you. I am really glad I didn't pop those pills." I said as I looked at were streaming down my cheeks. Maribella just pulled me into a hug. I started silently sobbing into her hair as she raked her fingers through my hair and on my back. She was sshing me and telling me that she was glad too. But then she stopped and I looked up at her.

"Why did you want to do that?" She asked.I lowered my gaze but she tilted my chin so I was looking at her.

"Well, Everyone already loved my brother much more then me. I was usually forgotten about. I felt alone and I couldn't handle it. Plenty of girls used me just to get close to my brother. Many of them stillndo not know that Feli is gay and already has a boyfriend. Still I felt like I was just my brothers shadow and I had no real purpose on this earth. Well that is until I met you and realized I am here to protect you." I say. She kissed me on the forehead and grabs my hand and walks me back to the bedroom where Antonio is.

"Goodnight boys, oh and by the way I love the tomato boxers you two." She said with a giggle as Antonio and I blushed and she ran back to her room.

-Feli's POV-

Maribella came running back into the room with a grin on her face and a blush on her cheeks."Your brother has some cute underwear." She said with a giggle.

"Oh I know, I picked out the tomato boxers that the both of them have." We spent the rest of the night gossiping about cute boys and funny stories amongst other various Gorky topics before finally nodding off to the sleep that was much needed for everyone in this house after the stressful little Petey was passed out and stretched all across her little dog bed.I am glad today had a happy end to it.


	15. Chapter 15

I could not move my bones  
I'm falling into what I know  
I won't ever let go

Maribella's phone kept going off. It must be time to get ready for school. TGIF. I can't believe I met and befriended this angel only two days ago.

"Bella, it's time to get up. We should probably get the others up as well." I say.

She sat up, stretched, and let out a tiny yawn. It was so adorable. Her hair still looked perfect and she was glowing.

"Someone is well rested." I say with a chuckle.

"I am going to go get Roma and Toni up." She said.

"I will get the others up as well, I will make breakfast." I say. She simply nodded and left.

-Roma's POV-

"Roma, Roma, it's time to get up." I kept my eyes closed but I was awake.

I felt something soft brush across my lips. I cracked open my eyes slightly. Maribella was hovering over me. She was kissing me.

"Are you awake now?" She said with a giggle.

My whole face was bright red as I nodded. "I'm up." I say.

"It's time to get ready for school." She says.

She leaves the room and goes into her room. I am glad she is feeling happier.

I hop out of the bed. I stretch and wake up Antonio.

"Hey, get up. It's time to get ready for school." I say.

"I'm up, I am going to go see if anyone is making breakfast yet." He says.

I nod and walk into the bathroom. I start the shower and undress. I step in and let the warm water cascade over my tired shoulders.

-Mari's POV-  
I walked into my bedroom. No one was in there so I walked to my closet.

Hmm, what to wear what to wear? I thought to myself.

I pulled an aqua sweater and some black leggings out of my closet. I found my silver ugg boots. I pulled on my clothes and walked into my bathroom. My hair looked good. I washed my face and then I applied some makeup.

I walked out of my bathroom and over to my puppies play area. I made sure that her doggy door was unlocked so she could go in and out as she pleased. I filled her food and water bowls and picked her up .

Petey nuzzled her face into my neck and I giggled. I carried her out of the room and into the kitchen.

All of the boys were up and eating. Roma handed me a plate of eggs. I set Petey on the floor and she started running around and she jumped up on the bench by the window and started barking at the weather outside.

"Look dudes and dudette, it's raining!" Alfred said. He scooped up the little animal and started rubbing her belly.

"We should clean up this mess and head to school guys. School starts in forty minutes." Ludwig said.

We all agreed and cleaned up our breakfast mess and headed to school.

-Time skip(at school)-

We walked into school and all split and went to class. Antonio walked with Roma and I into our first period. We all took our seats and opened our books. We conversed for a few minutes and then class started.

-Time Skip (lunch time)-

"Mari, don't forget to meet me here at 1:15 today." Antonio said.

I simply nodded and continued eating my food.

Roma scooted closer to me and wrapped his arm around my waist. I layed my head on his shoulder and we continued listening to the lunch conversations. He kissed my forehead and then the lunch bell rang. I giggled and we got up and walked to class.

Once I was situated in my desk I looked out the window.  
Amongst the rain and wet ground, I noticed a women. She was weeping. She was holding a bundle close to her chest. She had to be freezing.

I rose my hand and got the teachers attention.

"Yes Mari?" She asked.

"May I be excused from the rest of class?" I ask her.

"Why?" She asks me.

"I have an important matter to attend to." I answer.

"What would that be?"

I point outside and the teacher sees the woman and nods.

I leave the classroom and walk through the halls and out of the building.

I approached the woman and she looked up at me. I could see the pain in her eyes.

"Excuse me ma'am, are you okay? What are you doing out in this horrid weather?" I asked her.

"Well, I have no home. I kind I just live where ever." She said.

"What is in that bundle?" I asked curiously.

She handed it to me. I looked at it and immediately started panicking.

"We need to get into the school building now." I said.

The woman simply nodded and I rushed to the nurses office.

"Alfred, where is the nurse?" I asked. I held the bundle closer to my chest now. I was trying to warm it up.

"What's in your arms dudette? And she is in the guidance office." He said.

"I will tell you later, I need to go see the nurse." I said as I grabbed the woman's arm and pulled her to the guidance office.

I spotted the nurse and I called to her.

"I have a major issue. I need your help ASAP!" I said.

"What is going on Mari?" She asked.

"I need you to take a look at this." I said.

I handed her the bundle and she ran into her office.

She unwrapped the bundle and grabbed a blanket. She picked up the infant that was in the bundle and began wiping the blood off of it.

"Ma'am, did you just give birth to this child?" She asked.

She nodded her head and the nurse called the principal and she sent the woman, me, the baby, and the principal to the hospital in his car.

The woman was crying and I was holding the baby close to me for warmth. The baby was fussing and we reached the hospital in ten minutes.

I rushed the baby and the woman into the OR and everything was taken care of from there.

Roma showed up immediately after I made my way back to the waiting room.

"What's going on?" Roman said in a worried tone.

"That woman, she gave birth to a baby outside in the rain. She was bleeding. She lost a lot of blood. She is homeless. I rushed her and the baby to the hospital with the principal." I said. I sat there and he pulled me into a hug.

"Everything will be okay. I am sure that woman is thankful that you helped her." He said.

I just rested my head on his lap and waited.

-2 hours later-

The doctors came out and Roma and I stood up.

"How are they?" I asked.

"There is good news and bad news, what do you want to hear first?" The doctor stated.

"I want to hear the bad news."

"The woman you brought in, she lost a lot of blood. We couldn't save her."

When he said those words something inside me broke. I started tearing up.

"What's the good news?" Roma asked.

"The baby boy is healthy and has no problems that we have spotted." The doctor said.

"What's going to happen to him?" I asked.

"Right when you left and went into the waiting room, the woman told me that she wanted you to take care of her baby. She didn't have any possessions so the only thing that was written in her will was that the baby would go to you." He said.

I barely knew the woman and now I am the guardian of a child.

"Okay, can I go see him then?" I asked.

"Of course, technically until you are 18 your father will be legally responsible for the infant."

"I figured that."

The doctor led us into a room that was full of infants. The baby that I would be taking care of for the next 18 years was named Lukas. He was peacefully sleeping. He was wrapped in pale blue blankets and had a little pale blue hat on his head. The doctor handed him to me and we were led back into the waiting room.

We signed Lukas out at the front desk and we made our way home. I have to say he is pretty cute, but I have no idea what to tell my father.


	16. Chapter 16

-Maribella's POV-

Roma and I are home now. Mattie, Al, Toni, Francis, Artie, Gil, Luddy, and Feli are all sitting on the sofa.

"Hey Feli, remember our shopping plans today." I say.

"Yeah." He says as I enter the living room.

"We may be buying different things than what we originally planned." I say as I show him the little baby.

"How did you get that?" He asks obviously confused.  
u  
"I left class early today. I saw this woman outside holding blankets. I went out and asked her if she was okay. She showed me this little guy. She had just given birth to him. She was rushed to the hospital. She didn't make it. I guess I am his gaurdian now." I say, still trying to comprehend the situation myself.

"Hmm." He says.

"I have no idea what I am doing." I say.

"It's okay Bella, have you told your father yet?" He asks.

I shake my head no and sit down on the sofa next to Luddy and Feli.

"Well, I guess we will all have to help you until your dad gets home. When do you plan on telling him?" He asks.

"I was going to wait until he gets home, I mean I don't want to stress him out when he is on a work trip." I say.

"Well, I guess we should go figure out what we need to buy." Roma says.

"Here Feli, can you hold him while Romano and I go call the school nurse, and possibly the guidance counselor. They might know what we need to do." I say.

I hand little Lukas over to Feli. Feli smiles at the sleeping baby.

"You guys will need to be quiet. We don't want to wake the little guy up. He has had a long day and is all tuckered out." I say. They all nod and sit silently.

-20 minutes later-  
Feli, Luddy, Gil, Francis, Al, and I all leave to go shopping for baby supplies.

That means Roma, Artie, Mattie, and Toni and left on baby watch. I hope they know how to handle him.

-Roma's POV-

Buzz Buzz

"Roma, it's your grandpa. He wants to speak with you." Toni says.

I hand Lukas to Mattie and walk into Maribella's bedroom with my phone.

"Why are you and Feli not at home?" He says.

"We are having a mini situation." I say.

"What kind of a situation?" He says.

"Well, in short, Maribella is now the legal gaurdian of a new born baby boy. Her dad isn't at home and we can't just leave her to take care of him on her own. So Feli went shopping with Maribella and a few of the guys for baby supplies, while the rest of us watch the little guy. So far he is still asleep." I say, prepared to get yelled at or in trouble some how. All I hear now is a disconnecting line and so I walk back to the living room.

Ding Dong

I looked through the peephole at the front door. It's my grandpa. I open the door and step aside to let him in.

"Where is the baby?" He asks. I point to Mattie, who is currently rocking him.

"This is not a mini situation." He says sternly,"Do you guys even know how to take care of an infant?" He asks.

"W-Well S-Sir, I-I h-have taken c-care of a-a baby be-before." Mathew says quietly.

"Well there needs to be an adult here to supervise you all, where is her father?" He asks.

"He is on a business trip." Arthur says.

"Well, I guess she is going to have to come and stay with us until he gets back." He says.(He also winks at me when no one is looking)

He makes his way towards Matthew who is smiling and looking down at Lukas. Rome reaches down and takes the baby from mathew. He walks and rocks the baby. He turns and looks at me.

"Roma, you need to gather the boys and go pack things for mari."

"What are we going to do about petey?"

"Who?"

"Her new puppy."

"Pack anything that you think the puppy will need and we will take it with us." He says as we all nod.

I walk into her room and grab a duffle bag. I grab Toni and he helps me pick her outfits. Toni tries to help me pick out her underwear but I push him away. I close my eyes and reach into her drawer and grab a handful of undergarments and socks. I shove them into the bag and go to her bathroom and grab everything that looks important. Mathew gathers the puppy food and toys, Toni grabs all the other things the puppy will need while Arthur carries the puppy. We all exit her bedroom and back into the living room.

Grandpa Rome is sitting on the couch with the baby. He gets up and leads us to the door. We walk home with Mari's belongings in tow.

"Roma, you and the boys need to go get Maribella set up in the guest bedroom along with puppy and infant proofing. I am going to see if I can get into contact with Mari's father. I think he should know what is going on."

"You can't, she should tell him. She was going to wait until he got home so he wouldn't get stressed out." I say. He simply nods his head and walks off to find something to feed Lukas.

-Time Skip (2 hours)-

Now that everything is situated I guess we just wait for the others. I sit on the couch next to Arthur.

"I have no idea how to handle this madness." I say as I shake my head in my hands.

"We will all help you figure this out. None of us knew this would happen. Life always manages to throw unexpected things in your way doesn't it." He says slightly calm.

"I don't know if mari can handle this kind of stress. She has already been through so much in such a short amount of time. How do you think she is holding up with the others?" I ask while tears begin to form in my eyes from stress.

"I am sure everything is going well." Arthur says reassuringly while giving me a pat on the back.

What are we going to do?


	17. Chapter 17

-Maribella's POV-  
"Feli, what are we even supposed to buy for a baby?" I asked him as I stared down the aisle, slightly intimidated.

"Well, let's start with the essentials." He said. He walked over to the diapers and began inspecting the packages while he ran a hand through his light brown locks.

"I will go look at formulas." Luddy said. I nodded my head.

"Gil?" I called, sort of questioning whether he was even paying attention, or whether he was checking out the mom that was located one aisle in front of us.

"Yes Maribella." He said as he shifted his body to face me.

"Will you take Al to go look for a crib?" I asked.

"Yeah, we got it. No worries dudette." Al said as he patted me on the back, trying to reassure me.

"Hey Francis, can you go look for baby toys? Maybe you could find a suitable baby swing or something." I stated. He nodded. Just as he turned and left I dropped to the floor.

"I can't do this." I said as tears started to form in my eyes. I have no idea what I am doing. I am only a teenager. How am I supposed to take care of such a small and fragile human being? What if I screw him up?

As I started to break down and let my fears get the better of me, Ludwig came back to the cart with two large containers of formula. He rushed to where I was. He dropped the formula in the cart and picked me up off of the ground and hugged me.

"Shh, it's okay. We'll be okay. You'll be okay." He said as I cried into his chest.

At first Ludwig looked like a sort of intimidating and standoffish guy when I met him, but now I understand why Feli is so in love with the guy. He has a big heart.

I continued to to cover his chest with my waterfalls of tears. He just rocked my back and forth and petted my head. I have never let myself cry like this so freely in front of anyone besides Roma. I can really trust these guys.

I no longer had any tears. My eyes started to dry and now I was just trying to regulate my breathing. I looked up at Luddy who in turn looked down at me. He gave me a reassuring squeeze and released me. I let go and noticed that our group of friends has returned and filled the cart with what I had asked for.

"Bella? Why are you crying?" Feli asked as a worrisome look spread across his facial features.

"I don't know if I can do this." I said as I separated myself from Ludwig a little more.

"Aw, dudette you should know that we will all be here if you need any help. You aren't alone in this. Don't worry so much, we will be right by your side and if you feel like you can't handle it one of us will take over for a little while so you can take a break. We don't want you to feel so alone, because you aren't. We all hate to see you sad. Even if we just met you, you're one of us." He said, which definitely helped a lot. I think I will be able to do this.

"You've heard the saying 'it takes a village to raise a child', let us be your village." Gil said. I nodded and walked over to the cart.

"We still need wipes, baby shampoo and other toiletries, and baby clothes." I said as I wiped my face.

"Luddy, Al, and myself, will all go take care of the baby toiletries." Gil said.

"This means, me, Feli, and you, are in charge of making little Lukas look fabulous." Francis said.

"Okay, let's get to it dudes." Al said with a determined look. I giggled and we broke up into our groups. Feli, Francis, and I made our way towards the baby clothes section. I walked the aisles and stretched my arm out to feel all the soft fabrics. I spotted the cutest outfit I have ever seen in my life.

It was a three piece clothing set. It was blue and had a zebra head on the front of the shirt, pants, and hat. It was long sleeve with a striped border around the hem of the shirt, sleeves, waist of the pants, and rim of the hat. I grabbed the hanger and walked over to Feli. When he spotted it he squealed in excitement.

"Bella, that is so cute. Francis! Come over here and look at this!" Feli called for the blonde Frenchman.

"Hmm, let's get it." He said with a nod of approval. I put it in the cart. The cart was already filled with tons of outfits for little Lukas. At least thirty outfits had been picked out for the little guy.

"Hey guys? I think we have enough clothes for him." I said as Feli added about six more outfits to the pile and Francis added four. I shook my head and laughed. The outfits were adorable yeah, but I think it's a little obsessive. I let them have their fun and when they felt satisfied with Lukas' new wardrobe we walked to the cashier where we spotted the others.

After everything was bagged and put in carts the cashier told me the price. I looked up in shock.

"How am I going to pay for all of this?" I said quietly as I shook my head. I completely forgot how expensive humans can be. My eyes started to get watery and I looked at the floor.

"Bella, calm down. My grandfather owns and manages these stores. We get everything here practically for free, well it comes out of my grandfathers bank account at an extremely discounted rate." Feli said. He handed her his grandfather's store perks card and 90% of the price was knocked off. Feli handed her his credit card and then we were on our way to the cars.

"thank you Feli, I will find the money to pay you back soon." I said. He chuckled and shook his head,"don't worry about it Bella. Think of it as a gift from Lukas to me. I am like his uncle now." He said with a big smile.

We packed all of the cars with the groceries. It was like playing a big game of Tetris. I drove home with Feli. I got into the passenger side of the car and rested my arm against the window and watched as the car began to move. Things flew by and I watched as we passed a little farm and then a neighborhood, a fast food place, and office building, a gas station, etc. We were pulling into my drive way when I noticed that the front porch lights were off. I exited the car and walked up to the door. There was a small note taped to the glass.

Dear Mari,  
We are all next door at my place. My grandpa came over and decided it would be best for us all to stay at our house under his adult supervision. Come on over. By the time you read this Lukas will most likely be awake so don't bother with trying to be quiet. See you soon.  
Love, Roma.

I took the the note down and walked back to the car. "They are all next door." I said to Feli. He shook his head and started up his car and drove into his driveway.

"Let's all get these things into the house and set everything up for little Lukas." Feli said.

"While you guys set stuff up I will feed him. He must be starving. How long were we gone?" I asked as I looked towards Gil and Luddy.

"Two hours." They said in unison. I grabbed one of the two containers of formula and ran into the house. Right as I crossed the threshold Roma ran to me and gave me a huge hug. I relaxed into his embrace and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He smiled but then it disappeared when he saw my red puffy eyes.

"Were you crying?" He asked.

"Yeah but I'm fine now." I said, "I need to go make some formula for Lukas so I can feed him." I said.

"Okay, I will go find my grandpa and send him your way with the baby so you two can get acquainted." He said. I nodded and headed to their kitchen.

I was way too focused on making the formula right and reading the directions, to notice the older man enter the kitchen. I successfully made the formula on the first try and smiled as I turned. I squealed a little in surprise because I had not noticed the man in the doorway.

"No need to be scared of me." He said with a smile. "You can call me Rome or even Grandpa Rome like the boys if you feel comfortable." I nodded and flashed a small smile.

"My name is Maribella but you can call me Mari or Bella like Roma and Feli if you want." I said almost silently. He nodded and handed me Lukas.

"Hey little guy." I said quietly as I rocked the infant slightly and held the bottle for him. He lightly sucked the formula from the bottle and started stretching his tiny arms. He opened his hand and I extended my pinky for him to grab onto. His little fingers wrapped themselves around my finger. I rocked him a little and smiled. I kissed his little forehead and then looked back up to Rome.

"You are very good with babies." He said. "The first time I tried to hold Roma he burst out into tears and started flailing his little arms. Now the first time I held Feli he passed out right into my arms. It took Roma a while to warm up to me. I have pretty much been their gaurdian since birth."

"Why aren't they with their parents?" I asked. "Oh I am sorry that was a rude question, nevermind." I said as a blush graced my cheeks.

"It's okay, I will tell you. It might give you some insight as to why it is hard for Roma to open up to people." He said as I nodded.

"He doesn't live with his parents because, well, his parents weren't expecting twins. Feli and Roma were practically inseparable at birth and their parents couldn't take care of them both. Their mom, my daughter, abandoned them. She sent them off to me and never came back for them. Feli doesn't know this, but Roma found out about it. Roma feels like he is a burden. Almost every girl he has ever dated only dated him to get to Feli. Almost everyone in his life has left him. The few people in his life like you, his friends, his brother, and me are what keep him living. I read his journal, don't tell him that, and almost all of his entries are about death or misery. That is until recently. The most recent entries are about you. He needs you." He said. My heart broke a little at Rome's words. I was about to say something when I looked down and noticed that Lukas was finished with his bottle. I took the bottle from his mouth and grabbed a burp rag. I placed it on my shoulder and started lightly rocking and burping Lukas. "I need to go and help the boys set everything up, how about you come with me so if we need insight on something we can have your opinion." He said. I nodded and followed him out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

-Romano's POV-  
Maribella entered the room behind my Grandfather. She was lightly shifting her weight while patting Lukas' back. She must have just fed him and is helping him get rid of any air he swallowed so he doesn't have a tummy ache or something later. She is so great with children. She is so great with people in general.

"Hey Mari! Where should we put the crib?" Mattie and Al asked.

"Hmm, maybe you should put it in the middle of the room." She said slightly nodding her head as if she was confirming her command.

"Is it okay if we place the changing station here?" Luddy and Gil asked. She nodded her head.

She made her way over to Feli, Francis, and Artie who were putting the baby clothes away and bickering about whether it should be organized by color or style."How about you organize it by season. I mean usually seasons have specific groups of color and styles that are similar." She said.

"Great compromise." Grandpa Rome said.

Me, Antonio, and him were setting up all the toys and putting everything in the corresponding places.

-(Time Skip: 1 hour)-  
We took a step back and admired the room before us. A lot gets done when you have 10 people to help.

Mari sat in the rocking chair and started rocking Lukas back to sleep. He seemed sort of restless.

"Roma, you stay with Mari. The rest of us should go get ready for bed. It's late and we will only be distracting the baby and exciting him with all of us crowded into his room." Artie said as the rest agreed.

They all left Mari, Lukas, and I alone. The baby still seemed restless so Mari started singing.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine  
You make me happy when skies are gray  
You never know dear, how much I love you  
Please don't take my sunshine away

The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping  
I dreamt I held you in my arms  
When I awoke,dear, I was mistaken  
So I hung, my head, and cried

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine  
You make me happy when skies are gray  
You never know, Dear, how much I love you  
Please don't take my sunshine away

I'll always love you and make you happy  
If you will only say the same  
But if you leave me to love another,  
You'll regret it all one day

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine  
You make me happy when skies are gray  
You never know,dear, how much I love you  
Please don't take my sunshine away

Please don't take my sunshine away

By the time she had finished the song all of the guys were back in the room "checking up on us". Lukas was asleep so Mari got up and placed him lightly into his crib. She slowly turned around and we all silently left the room. After she left the door slightly cracked and made it into her room she allowed us to speak.


	18. Chapter 18

-Maribella's POV-  
"Bella, you're a beautiful singer. Why don't you join that club. The one that Antonio is a part of. Oh what is it called?" Feli said as he racked his brain trying to find the answer with a look of frustration set in the creases inbetween his eyebrows.

"The glee club." Antonio said and sent a wink my way.

"I am not cut out for that. I am way too shy for that." I said. We all understood but that doesn't mean we weren't disappointed.

"Maybe you could do a little show for us." Francis said with a perverted look. Artie just have him a light smack to the back of his head to try and get rid of the look on his face.

"Well, Alfred and I have been looking for lead singers for our band. Maybe you would want to join? Would it make you more comfortable if you had us with you while you were singing?" Mattie said really quietly.

"Thanks for the offer, but I don't know if I want to pursue music. I mean yeah I will sing to my kids and Lukas but that's all I can see myself doing with it. I mean, who would want to listen to me sing? Not really anybody. Practically every girl at school already hates me because of the fact that I hang out with you guys." I say.

"Well, this might be a good chance to show them your worth. I mean, glee club is hosting battle of the bands at the end of the year. If you, Al, and Matthew can get your band together by then, you guys could participate in battle of the bands. I mean if they have you as their lead singer there is no way you three could lose." Antonio said.

"Well, I will consider it. Hey what instruments do you guys play anyway?" I asked.

"Well, Mattie here is a wizard on the drums. I just play bass guitar." Al said as Mattie blushed.

"hmm, wouldn't the band be missing something?" I questioned.

"We would need someone for electric guitar." Al said.

"Well, who here knows how to play?" Francis asked.

"I can't play an instrument to save my life. I only paint and cook." Feli said.

"I only sing." Antonio said.

"I can do it." Roma said. He looked down with a red face.

"Why didn't you tell us before man?" Al said.

"Well, I don't know. I just didn't really feel comfortable with it before. But if you guys can't find anyone else I can do it." Roma said. I walked up to him, hugged him, and kissed him on the cheek. I moved my mouth towards his ear.

"I will feel much more comfortable with you up there. Thanks." I whispered into his ear for only him to hear.

"Well, I guess that's settled. We should have our first band practice tomorrow." Al said excitedly.

"But what will our name be?" Mattie asked.

"Hmm, it needs to be edgy." Al said.

"Well, if we are going to try to and prove something, and if we trying to elicit some kind of response from them, our name should be related to the fact that we are trying to make this happen. It should be a blatant statement." Mattie said.

"Make your move." I said.

"I like it. It would totally throw other bands off." Al said.

"I like it." Roma said.

"Who is going to watch Lukas while we are practicing?" I asked.

"Me me me!" Feli

"Okay Feli, you and Ludwig can watch him while we practice." Roma said.

"I am kind of excited for this battle of the bands thing. I am just worried that I won't be a good enough front man for the band." I said slightly worried.

"If anything, you are the best person for the job." Al said reassuringly. I nodded

"shouldn't we be getting to bed now?" Artie asked. We all nodded. Everyone left my room except for Roma.

"Roma, did you need something?" I asked him.

"I just haven't really gotten a lot of time to be with you since all of this happened. Are you feeling okay? I mean you've been through a lot and it's only Saturday."

"I am fine, I am really glad that your grandpa is letting me stay here with you guys while my dad is out of town." I said as I hugged him.

"You're going to have a fun time at battle of the bands, just to warn you, we are going to be up against The bad touch trio."

"The who?"

"The bad touch trio, that's Antonio's band."

"Oh, well, who else is in that band?"

"Gilbert and Francis."

"Oh so it's just going to be a fun little rivalry between us."

"Well, I am not sure if they are actually going to be competing. They might end up being the judges."

"Oh, well then we aren't really going up against them. They will just be there."

"yeah, well they are some difficult judges haha. They are so dedicated to music that they will pick out the littlest mistakes."

"This doesn't reassure me." I said now more worried.

"It's fine, you will be great. We will definitely overthrow the class systems at our school."

"I hope we can do it." I gave Roma one more hug, gave Petey a belly rub and went to bed.


	19. Chapter 19

-Mari's POV-  
I woke up bright and early. It's Sunday. I have band practice today.

I sit up and stretch my top half a little before climbing out of bed. 7:15 am, the clock read. I slipped on my fuzzy elephant slippers and made my way to the bathroom. I looked a mess. I grabbed the face wash and started scrubbing away the grime from yesterday's events. I looked back in the mirror. My face seemed to glow a little and my skin looked healthy. Yay. I applied som mascara and decided I wouldn't go all out. I put my hair in a high pony tail. I brushed my teeth and spit.

I walked into my room again and took off my clothes. I put on some deodorant and grabbed a new outfit.

I picked out out a white button down sleeveless collared shirt. It had black birds all over it. I wore a red spaghetti tank top underneath it. I wore a pair of blue skinny jeans and I decided to wear some red and white converse. I walked back into the bathroom. I found my mango body spray and put some on.

Petey was was up and rolling around on the floor. She looked adorable. I picked her up and decided to bring her to meet Lukas. I left my room.

-Roma's POV-  
I opened my eyes and looked at the clock, 6:50 am. Why am I awake so early. I got up and walked into the bathroom for a shower. After I finished I combed my hair and brushed my teeth. I washed my face. I walked out of the bathroom and into my closet. I grabbed my white and red striped polo shirt. I grabbed some blue jeans and my black and white converse. I put everything on and went back into the bathroom. I put on some deodorant and left the bathroom. My clock read 7:17 am. I left my room and walked over to see Lukas.

He was sleeping. His little hands were tightened into fists near his head. I picked him up and rocked him a little in my arms.

"Hey little guy. I feel kind of bad for you. I know you don't understand this but your parents are gone. You're like me. We aren't alone though. We have lots of friends and people who care for us. I hope you realize that. You have a great group of guys, my best friends, your uncles, who are practically willing to drop anything to come to you. My brother feliciano, he is a great guy. He will probably spoil the heck out of you. His boyfriend Ludwig is awesome too. He may seem intimidating at first but he is a real softy. Don't tell him I told you that haha. I hope you don't inherit a love for women like my friends Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio. We will just have to supervise your time with them. They will probably try to use you to get girls. They're just playing, they are really caring. Al will probably be the one to get you sucked into video games and sports. Matt will probably be the one that you get your soft sensitive side from. You are one lucky little guy. You also have Artie who will probably assault your taste buds with his terrible cooking but there is a lot to love about him. Mari will probably be the one who you will be with the most. She is the sweetest, kindest person you will ever meet. She will be like your adoptive mom kind of. I don't know what kind of relationship you guys will have but it will have lots of love. We will take good care of you I promise. You have me too. I don't do much. If anything I will just accidentally teach you bad words and be a jerk. I'm sorry you got stuck with me kid."

"Roma, don't say that. You will be the one to pick him up when someone treats him badly. You will be the one who takes names when someone hurts him. You have a lot to offer." I turned around and saw Maribella. She was leaned against the door frame. I didn't know she was here. I started blushing.

"How much of that did you hear?" I asked her.

"I came in here when you started talking about Artie. His cooking can't be that bad." She said as she giggled.

"I hope you never have to experience it." I said with a smile.

"You're funny too." She said and laughed. I put my finger to my lips because she was getting a little loud and I didn't want Lukas to wake up. He's had a hard time so far. She nodded and covered her mouth and blushed.

I motioned for her to come closer to me. She approached me and I passed Lukas off to her. She sat back in the rocker.

"I am going to go get Feli up and see if he wants to help me make breakfast." I said. She simply nodded and continued rocking and whispering things to Lukas.

I exited the room and crossed the hall and knocked on feli's door.

"Ve, who's there?" Feli said as he opened the door. "Roma, why are you up so early?" He asked.

"I wanted to know if you want to help me make breakfast. Mari is up already. She is with Lukas. I assume that Ludwig and Gilbert are up doing their morning training. Al, Antonio, and Francis will probably be asleep until noon. I am not sure about Artie and Matt." I told Feli.

"I would love to help make breakfast." He said as he grabbed his doorknob and turned off the light as he exited his room. We made our way downstairs. Petey was in the yard running around ad playing with butterflies.

"Petey, come on girl." I called. She yipped and came running to the door. She made it just past the threshold when she tripped on her feet and I caught her. She licked my chin and I set her down next to her kibble.

-Time Skip 30 minutes-  
We decided to make a big breakfast. We made sausages, bacon, pancakes, waffles, french toast, Crepes, scrambled eggs, potato tortillas(not the kind of tortilla you're probably thinking of. It's a Spanish food that we learned about in Spanish last year) and we had orang juice, apple juice, coffee, tea, milk, and other things. Since we had so many people on our house we made a variety of foods.

I walked upstairs to get everyone up while Feli set the table. Everyone said they would be down in ten minutes or less and Mari requested that I make some formula for Lukas.

Everyone sat around the table and shared the food and talked about their dreams and other stuff. We were like a family. Al, Mari, Matt, and I have band practice right after breakfast. Mari was too busy feeding Lukas to eat.

"Hey Maribella, I can feed him If you want to grab something." I said. She passed him to me and Grabbed a plate and grabbed a tortilla.

I pushed my chair out a little so I had more arm room. I held the bottle for the small infant and he drank. His hands were holding my fingers and squeezing them.

"Aww, Roma you look so cute with the little baby." Feli said.

"Yeah this is a major Kodak moment. Let me go grab my camera." Al said. I sat still and waited for Al to return and take his picture.

"That's a keeper." He said as he passed the camera around for everyone to see.

"Aww, you have got to send me that." Mari said as she looked at the picture.

Lukas stopped drinking so I removed the Semi-empty bottle from his mouth and placed it on the table. I grabbed a burp rag and got myself situated with Lukas so I could burp him. I patted his back as he got rid of all the air he swallowed while he drank his formula. After he finished I rocked him a little and he was out like a light.

"We should probably get to practicing dudes." Al said.

I nodded and passed Lukas off to Ludwig because Feli was still eating breakfast.

"Take good care of the little dude while we practice." Al said as we went to Al and Matt's house.

We got set up in the garage. Mari took her place in front of the mike stand. We decided to do a cover of SING by My Chemical Romance.

Sing it out  
Boy, you've got to see what tomorrow brings  
Sing it out  
Girl, you've got to be what tomorrow needs  
For every time that they want to count you out  
Use your voice every single time you open up your mouth

Sing it for the boys  
Sing it for the girls  
Every time that you lose it sing it for the world  
Sing it from the heart  
Sing it till your nuts  
Sing it for the ones that'll hate your guts  
Sing it for the deaf  
Sing it for the blind  
Sing about everyone that you left behind  
Sing it for the world  
Sing it for the world

Sing it out, boy they're gonna sell what tomorrow means  
Sing it out, girl before they kill what tomorrow brings  
You've got to make a choice  
If the music drowns you out  
And raise your voice  
Every single time they try and shut your mouth

Sing it for the boys  
Sing it for the girls  
Every time that you lose it sing it for the world  
Sing it from the heart  
Sing it till your nuts  
Sing it out for the ones that'll hate your guts  
Sing it for the deaf  
Sing it for the blind  
Sing about everyone that you left behind  
Sing it for the world  
Sing it for the world

Cleaned-up corporation progress  
Dying in the process  
Children that can talk about it,  
Living on the railways  
People moving sideways  
Sell it till your last days  
Buy yourself a motivation  
Generation nothing  
Nothing but a dead scene  
Product of a white dream  
I am not the singer that you wanted  
But a dancer  
I refuse to answer  
Tall about the past, sir  
Wrote it for the ones who want to get away

Keep Running!

Sing it for the boys  
Sing it for the girls  
Every time that you lose it sing it for the world  
Sing it from the heart  
Sing it till your nuts  
Sing it out for the ones that'll hate your guts  
Sing it for the deaf  
Sing it for the blind  
Sing about everyone that you left behind  
Sing it for the world  
Sing it for the world

Got to see what tomorrow brings  
Sing it for the world  
Sing it for the world  
Girl, you've got to be what tomorrow needs  
Sing it for the world  
Sing it for the world

We finished the song and Mari was doing well.

"You can do this Mari, we will be right here for support. You are fantastic." Al said. She nodded and we moved onto the next song.

-Time Skip 2 hours-  
We finished up practice and went home. I don't know why Mari is afraid to perform. She is fantastic.

When we got home Ludwig, Feli, and Lukas were on the couch. Ludwig had his arm around Feli who was watching Lukas sleep.

"Did you guys have a good practice?" Feli asked. We all nodded. This band is going to be a good thing for us.


	20. Chapter 20

-Mari's POV-  
"Hey, we should go to the park!" I hear a certain trio of friends call in excitement from a room away.

"That sounds like a lovely idea. I haven't been to the park in a while." Artie said.

"Yeah we can all go and play soccer!" Feli says as he hands me Lukas.

"That sounds like fun." Ludwig says. The rest of the boys nod their heads.

"I think it's a good idea for all of you. You could bring little Lukas too." Rome said as he walked into the room.

"Okay." I nod. I run upstairs and grab Petey and her leash and some doggy bags. I also grab some things from Lukas's room. I walk back downstairs and set everything in the stroller. I grab my jacket and I put it on. Roma puts Lukas in his little jacket and we all exit the house to walk to the park. As we walk we start talking about things.

"Hmm, we don't really know all that much about you Bella." Feli says.

"You can ask me questions if you want. Maybe you will learn something." I say as Feli chuckles.

"Okay, what's your favorite color?"

"I like greens but I would say I love all colors." I say.

"Okay, my turn, what's your favorite video game dudette?" Al asked.

"Hmm, I like portal 2 but I like other games too." I reply.

"What are your favorite types of movies?" Gilbert asked.

"Hmm, I really enjoy horror films. I also love Classic Disney movies." I say.

"Oh I remember the classics. I miss those. I could watch them a hundred times over and still love them. I will never get sick of those." Al said.

"We should have a Disney movie night. We can invite all of our friends, well all of your friends and we can set up a projection outside on the side of the house. We could set up picnic tables and snacks and stuff. Maybe have a bonfire. We could even sit on blankets and watch them and make it fun." I say.

"You always come up with the best ideas." Roma says.

"I think our grandpa would be cool with that. We can ask him when we get back." Feli said.

"We could invite the whole school dudes." Al said as he chuckled. The rest of the gang nodded.

We made it to the park. It was very lively today, couples were holding hands and walking the trails. Children were running around and playing on the playground. Groups of boys were playing basket ball. Everyone seemed to be having a good time.

We all made our way to the fields where the boys will play soccer together. Artie and I grabbed a bench and sat down together. Artie pulled out a book. He leaned back a little and began reading. I didn't want to disturb him so I just watched the boys play.

They em were playing really well even though they weren't wearing the right kind of clothes to play. Roma and Feli were both juggling and the others were just passing. They were all smiling and laughing. I smiled as I watched them have a good time. I looked at Lukas to see how he was holding up. He opened his mouth and then his eyes opened a little.

His eyes have been closed practically the whole time. I picked him up out of his stroller. He just looked at me. I looked back. Something is really off. Babies shouldn't have any pigments at his stage. His eyes are bright green. The same green as summer grass.

"Artie, I'm confused."

"What's wrong love?" He asked as he sat up and looked from his book towards me.

"Will you look at Lukas." I said. He nodded and I passed the little guy over to him.

"What? What am I supposed to be looking for?" He said. Right as I opened my mouth to tell him something clicked in his brain.

"That's odd." He said," I don't think his eyes are supposed to be that color. Is he supposed to be able to open his eyes yet?" He asked.

"I have no idea. Should we go see the doctors?" I asked.

"Maybe we should just call first. Oh, but it's a Sunday, the office will be closed." He said as he have Lukas back to me.

"I have the home number of one of the doctors. His name was Ivan." I said.

"Oh the really big intimidating one?" Artie asked. I nodded. "Yeah go ahead, call him. I don't know if this is serious or not." He said.

I pulled out my phone and dialed his number.

Ring Ring Ri..

"Dr. Ivan speaking" A deep voice said on the other line.

"Hi doctor it's Maribella, I have a quick question." I said.

"Da?" He said.

"It's about Lukas, he opened his eyes today."

"Well he seems to be a little advanced but I see no problem with that." He said.

"Well that's not really my main concern, when he opened them they weren't blue eyes. His eyes were bright green." I said.

"Oh, okay um well I am free today, so can you bring him over to my house for a check up?" He asked.

"I think I can manage that." I replied. He gave me his address and we ended our chat.

"Hey guys, I think we need to get home and get your grandpa because we are making a quick visit to the doctor's." I called.

The boys packed up their things and jogged over here

"What's wrong Bella?" Feli asked.

"Well, Lukas opened his eyes, they're bright green. That raised some red flags so Artie suggested that I call Doctor Ivan. I did and he wants us to take Lukas over to his place to see what's up." I answered. They all nodded and we walked home. As we made our way home Lukas watched. He stayed silent. Not a peep. Well, until a large bird flew kind of close to us and spooked him. He started fussing so I picked him up. Roma took the stroller and we continued or journey home from the park. Lukas played with my hair and got his hands tangled in my unruly curls. I giggled and helped him out.

"Frau you weren't lying when you said his eyes were Grün. They're the color of summer leaves." Gil said.

"They can't be that green." Al said as he shifted to walk behind me and see the infants eyes. He almost stepped on Petey but she dodged his foot.

"Woah, you've got some very green eyes little dude." Al said and Lukas just watched him. All stuck his head closer to little Lukas and made silly faces. Lukas spotted Alfred's little cowlick and reached his hand out to grab hold of it. Once the desired hair was in his grasp he had a death grip on it. A blush spread across Al's cheeks as he tried to get his hair out of the infants grip.

"Don't pull on that little man." Al said as e finally pried the hand off of his cowlick. His face was bright red and he was a little frustrated. Lukas sensed this and decided not to try again.

"I'm sorry if got uncool little dude but I don't like having my hair pulled." Al said. Lukas continues to stare at him.

We made it home and saw Rome sitting on the couch.

"Why are you back so early?" He asked.

"Look at Lukas." Roma said. The older man inspected the infant. Nothing popped out a him until he saw the eyes.

"Well that's odd. His eyes aren't normal." Rome said.

"We already called the doc and he said he's ready for us whenever." Matt said.

"Okay who all is coming." Rome asked.

"me." We all said in unison. Rome sighed and told us to all get piled into the cars and left.

I kept little Lukas with me. I am glad we got him binkies because he is in love with them. I rode with Rome, Roma, Feli, and Ludwig. The rest of them took their own cars. I am glad Lukas has such a huge support team. I know I wouldn't be able to do it without them. They are going to be the best uncles in the world. This boy is lucky. He has a lot of love.


	21. Chapter 21

-Mari's POV-  
Mr. Rome drove us to 's house. I held Lukas in my lap. He is such a cutie. He played with my fingers and laughed and smiled the whole time. Roma sat next to me. He had his headphones in. He was staring out the window. I rested my head on his shoulder. He put his chin On top of my head and looked down at the baby. Lukas let go of my fingers and reached towards Roma. I handed Lukas to Roma. The small baby just stared at him. Romano started making silly faces. Lukas started laughing and squirming in Roma's arms. Roma stuck out his tongue and Lukas touched it. This little boy is extremely curious. Roma started laughing and so did I.

"We are here." Feli called from the front. We nodded and got out of the car. I walked up to the front door with Roma and Lukas. I rang the doorbell.

"Hello, I am glad you made it out." The doctor said in a heavy Russian accent. He smiled. Roma shrunk back a little at his dark aura. I just giggled and walked inside.

"So why exactly did you call us here?" The others asked.

"Well, I just wanted to make sure that Lukas was okay. His eyes shouldn't even have any pigments yet. I just want to do a quick checkup." He said. I nodded.

Roma handed over Lukas. The doctor took Lukas and Roma's grandfather into another room to conduct the check up. They came back out fifteen minutes later.

"Lukas is fine. His body just produced melanin earlier than any other infant I've ever met but he is fine. He will probably end up with either dark brown hair or red hair. Knowing his moms genetics he will most likely end up with red hair." The doctor said. We nodded.

"I am glad you called us over. I feel much less worried about the little guy now." I stated. He nodded and showed us the way out. Just as we walked out the door I noticed a smaller girl watching us. She looked a lot like Doctor Ivan but much more petite and a lot younger. I waved at her and walked out the door. I noticed her confused expression as I glanced through the window at her on my way to the car. We all got loaded up again and made our way home.

"You're going to be a handful aren't you little guy." I said as Lukas laughed.

By the time we were back home Lukas was asleep already. I took him up to his crib and set him inside it. Petey walked into the room and curled up at the front of the crib. I smiled and turned the mobile on as I walked out.

"Hey what do want to do for dinner?" Roma asked me.

"We should just do something simple and maybe go play a board game with the others." I said. I just wanted to chillax tonight. Roma nodded and pulled me into a bear hug.

"Me too."

-Time Skip 1 hour-  
I walked downstairs and started heating up a bottle for the baby knowing that he would be hungry soon and fussy if he didn't get fed. Roma walked upstairs with me to keep me company while I fed the infant.

"You are a really good caretaker. You are a natural." Roma said. I blushed.

"Its only because I used to be a babysitter before I moved here." I said.

"oh, why don't you babysit anymore?" He asked me.

"Well, new place, new faces. I don't feel comfortable." I said.

"Oh, well at least you can still take care of this kid." Roma said as he pointed at Lukas.

I laughed as Lukas finished up his bottle. I picked him up and started burping him. After I finished I set him back in his crib so he could sleep. He had a long first day of new experiences.

Roma and I walked downstairs to join everyone downstairs for a game of monopoly. This could turn out bad.

-15 minutes later-

"Dude! I called that rail road!" Al said as he leaped across the board and started wrestling with Gilbert. Everyone was fighting over territories. You could hear the friendships slowly deteriorating.

"Guys, Guys, Guys! Calm down. This game is getting out of control." I said as I scolded the boys.

"We're sorry," They all said in unison as they looked down at the ground in shame.

"How about we watch a movie or something." I said and they all nodded.

"Who's turn is it to pick this time?" Artie asked.

"It's totally my turn dudes!" Al said as he grabbed the remote and started browsing Netflix. He spotted a movie that caught his interest, Insidious.

He started it up and we all found spots either cuddling our neighbor or pretending to be too cool to be scared. Roma was resting his had on my lap as I stroked his hair. I started playing with the weird curl that always sticks apart from the others. He started squirming.

"Why are you squirming?" I asked as I looked at Roma's red face.

"That is a sensitive spot."He said. I understood and started messing with other strands of hair.

Feli was cuddled up with Ludwig. Ludwig had his arm wrapped around Feli's shoulder. Feli had his arms around Luddy's torso. Luddy kissed Feli's head as Feli hid his face in Ludwig's chest.

Antonio was sitting cross legged in a beanbag on the floor petting petey. Prussia was in a beanbag near Antonio. Francis was cuddling Arthur, although Arthur was blushing because he is slightly awkward and tends to shy away from touching. Mattie was on the floor laying on his stomach with a pillow under his arms. Al was laying next to Mattie in a similar position. Once everyone was situated Al hit the play button.

Feli hid the entire movie. I got scared towards the middle. I screamed and Roma got off of my lap so I could hide in his chest. Al was screaming and stole Mattie's pillow and hid his face in it. Arthur and Francis were still awkwardly cuddling. Antonio was still eagerly petting petey.

"Should we stop the movie?" Roma asked slightly worried that Feli, Al, and I would start crying.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" The three of us screamed in unison. Mattie turned the movie off and I kept hiding in Roma's chest.

"It's okay Maribella, it isn't real. I would never let anything hurt you. Please calm down." Roma said as he stroked my curls. I looked up and he smiled at me.

"I think everyone has had a long long day so we should head upstairs to bed." Roma said. We all nodded and agreed. I made it to my room wit petey but I couldn't sleep alone. I was too afraid.

"Roma!" I called. He walked out of the bathroom shirtless with a toothbrush in his mouth.

"Yea?" he said with a mouth full of foamy toothpaste.

" I don't want to sleep alone. Will you sleep with me?" I asked as I gave him puppy dog eyes. His eyes softened and he nodded his head. I went to my room to change and he went to the bathroom to finish brushing.

I pulled out my favorite cookie monster pj's. The pants were blue and fluffy just like cookie monsters fur and the top had chocolate chip cookie on it. I crawled under my covers and waited for Roma. He turned out the lights and crawled under the covers with me. I snuggled up against him and mumbled into his chest. His chest rumbled, he was laughing.

"What? I didn't catch what you said." He said with a smile. I looked up at him with a light blush.

"I said thank you." I said slightly louder as I put my head back into his chest. He kissed the top of my head and my face burned.

Today was a nice day I thought as my eyes closed and I drifted off to sleep.


	22. Chapter 22

-Author's Note-  
This is a really long chapter. I hope you manage to read it all. Leave a comment if you want. I really appreciate all the likes you guys give me. I really like making stories for you guys. I hope you enjoy it. I think its around 3ooo words or so. It's like nine pages, maybe ten I think. Try to excuse all my errors, I am not the best speller.

-Mari's POV-  
I opened my eyes. Roma was looking at me. I got up and stretched. He was blushing because I caught him watching me. He too got up and stretched.

"That is probably the best sleep I have ever gotten." I said.

"Yeah, I agree. Do you think Matt and Al want to practice today?" Roma asked me.

"I don't know. Hey Roma, Why were you watching me sleep?" I asked him.

"You were mumbling but I couldn't understand it."

"What time is it?" I asked him.

"It is about 7 am." He said with a yawn.

He sat up and stretched. He rubbed his eyes and got up out of my bed. He walked out of my room. He smelled really good. I wonder what cologne he wore yesterday. I hopped out of bed and walked into Lukas' room. He was wiggling around in his crib. I picked him up and he started cooing. He buried his face in my chest and I took him downstairs to see who was up. Petey followed me at my feet. I descended the staircase and saw that Al was up and so was Feli. They both had bags under their eyes. The poor guys must've been too scared to sleep. I sat on the couch next to the two of them.

"Did you guys get any sleep last night?" I asked the both of them.

"I was way to scared to sleep." Feli said and Al nodded.

"Hey dudette, weren't you just as scared as the both of us? How did you manage to get any sleep?" He asked. Gil walked down the stairs just as I was about to answer.

"Well, I asked Roma to sleep with me. He said he would and I fell asleep really easily." I said. I could feel my ears and face get really hot. Gilbert chuckled and called to Roma.

"Roma, I heard you slept with Maribella last night." He practically yelled it so the whole house could hear. Arthur, Ludwig, Francis, Matthew, Roma, Antonio, and Rome all rushed into the room,

"What did I hear?" Rome said from the bottom of the stair case. His face was slightly panicked and all of the boys in the house looked embarrassed.

"It wasn't like that at all." I said in a frantic voice.

"Calm down Bella, Let me explain grandpa, She was really frightened last night. She asked me to spend the night in her room. She felt safer and less scared with me in her room. She fell right asleep whereas if I left her to sleep alone she would look like how Feli and Al look right now." Roma said. I nodded.

"Thank god, When I heard Gilbert yell that I about had a heart attack. I don't think either of you are prepared for the outcome of what I thought happened." He said.

We all nodded, I was way ready to change the subject. I looked down at little Lukas and I noticed he was fidgeting with my shirt.

"I think lukas is a little hungry." I said.

"I will take care of it." Rome said as I passed the infant to him and he left the room.

"Hey do you guys want to practice today?" Roma asked.

"I am way too tired man." Al said.

"Yeah maybe we should cool it down for today and just hang out at home today." I said. I picked up petey and set her on my lap. I gave her tummy rubs.

Everyone else decided they would read, play video games, or do stuff on their phones. I just kept petting petey. After a while I completely forgot I was in a room with people. I started singing quietly.

Talk candy in my ear  
Come on, Come on  
I want your toxic, Talk sick baby  
I know those gospel lips can change me.

Look to the right of me, okay?  
We got exhibit A;  
She, she ain't okay today.  
And to the left, the left of me,  
We got exhibit B.  
Oh, she's a mess to say the least.  
She's got her Daddy's money, money, money.

Honey, I think you should run.  
I think you should run.

Look, oh, Look around.  
You're lost but never found, no.  
Six feet below the ground,  
Where you avoid your problems.

Look right in front of me.  
We got exhibit C...  
Anorexic, obsessed with magazines.  
And when I look over here,  
Oh my god, that's me in the mirror.  
No, no, no, ladies and gentleman,  
This is my fear... my eyes and ears.

Honey, I think you should run, run.

Look, oh, Look around.  
You're lost but never found, no.  
Six feet below the ground,  
Where you avoid your problems.

Look, oh, Look around.  
You're lost but never found, no.  
Six feet below the ground,  
Where you will never solve them.

I know you don't wanna hear this, but just listen.

The last contendent,  
Bad for us, bad for you.  
This capillary root  
Could root up  
all the little  
Puzzle Pieces  
Of what you've been through.

Your hair all up in knots.  
Don't ever say you're not  
Oh, Just a nothin',  
'Cause I swear downstairs you're somethin'.

Egotistic, Cynical.  
I'm gettin' out of control,  
Out of control,  
Out of control.

Look, Oh, Look around.  
You're lost but never found, no.  
Six feet below the ground,  
Where you avoid your problems.

Look, oh, Look around.  
You're lost but never found, no.  
Six feet below the ground,  
Where you will never solve them.

Look, oh, Look around.  
You're lost but never found, no.  
Six feet below the ground,  
Where you avoid your problems.

Out of control.  
I've got control.

I was still rubbing petey's belly and thinking that no one was paying attention I started singing another rendition of a Get Scared song.

You've got me shaking from the way you're talking  
My heart is breaking but there's no use crying  
What a cyanide surprise you have left for my eyes  
If I had common sense I'd cut myself or curl up and die

Sticks and stones could break my bones  
But anything you say will only fuel my lungs

Don't mind us we're just spilling our guts  
If this is love I don't wanna be loved  
You pollute the room with a filthy tongue  
Watch me choke it down so I can throw it up.

Don't mind us we're just spilling our guts  
If this is love I don't wanna be hanging by the neck  
Before an audience of death.

You could be the corpse and I could be the killer  
If I could be the devil, you could be the sinner  
You could be the drugs and I could be the dealer  
Everything you say is like music to my ears

You could be the corpse and I could be the killer  
If I could be the devil, You could be the sinner  
You could be the drugs and I could be the dealer  
Everything you say is like music to my, music to my ears

Don't mind us we're just spilling our guts  
If this is love I don't want to be loved  
You pollute the room with a filthy tongue  
Watch me choke it down so I can throw it up.

Don't mind us we're just spilling our guts  
If this is love I don't wanna be hanging by the neck  
Before an audience of death  
(before an audience)

Failure find me  
To tie me up now  
'Cause I'm as bad, as bad as it gets  
Failure find me  
To tie me up now  
By my neck cause I'm a fate worse than death

What a cyanide surprise you have left for my eyes  
If I had common sense I'd cut myself or curl up and die

Don't mind us we're just spilling our guts  
If this is love I don't wanna be loved  
You pollute the room with a filthy tongue  
Watch me choke it down so I can throw it up

Don't mind us we're just spilling our guts  
If this is love I don't wanna be hanging by the neck  
before an audience

Don't mind us we're just spilling out guts  
If this is love I don't wanna be loved  
You pollute the room with a filthy tongue  
Watch me choke it down so I can throw it up

Don't mind us we're just spilling out guts  
If this is love I don't wanna be hanging by the neck  
before an audience of death

I looked up and noticed all of the guys were practically sitting on the floor in a circle around me. I was blushing like a tomato and petey just jumped out of my lap and made her way towards Gilbert because apparently his belly rubs are more to her liking. They were all staring at me.

"What guys?" I asked hoping to get them to stop staring at me.

"Dudette! Those songs would totally be perfect for our band. I never suspected you would be a rock and metal sort of gal." Al said as a goofy smile set itself onto his features.

"Maribella, I think you guys will definitely be tough competition at battle of the bands, I would even go as far to say that your band will leave the others in the dust. I can't wait to see what goes on at this competition. You guys don't really even need to practice." Antonio said.

"I am just okay, I am sure that I will need a lot of practice if we want to win. I am not really concerned with winning I just want everyone to have a really awesome time. I want people to enjoy my music and I want everyone to hear our message." I said.

"And everyone will understand your message while having a good time." Gil said as he petted petey.

"I feel like people won't expect us. We will totally surprise them." Al said with a determined, champion, sort of face. I just laughed at him and so did everyone else.

"Al, you need to calm down a little. I think you are slap happy from the lack of sleep. Maybe you should go to bed early tonight." I said and he nodded as he yawned.

I heard stomachs rumbling around the room.

"Maybe we should go have breakfast, you guys sound starved." I said.

We all headed into the kitchen and had breakfast. There was a variety of foods displayed across the table. These boys have like bottomless stomachs because they practically ate everything in the pantry.

"It looks like I've got to go shopping." Rome said.

"If you want you can take Lukas with you to keep you company, I am sure he would be better company than the rest of us." I said with a giggle as I noticed all of the insulted faces around the table.

"That sounds good to me, maybe you guys can go to the mall or to the movie theater or both and I can take Lukas off of your hands for today." Rome said and we all agreed.

"Yay! Bella we can finally go shopping since we didn't get to on Friday. We have school tomorrow so it seems like now is as good of a time as any." Feli said in excitement.

"Yeah I would love to watch Maribella model for us." Francis said which earned him a smack on the back of the head from Arthur.

Since we decided to go to the mall I headed upstairs to change my clothes and get ready. The guys also went upstairs to change. I hopped in the shower to clean up. After I got out, I dried myself off and went to the sink. I brushed my teeth and washed my face. I walked into my room and searched through my things to find an outfit to wear. I decided I would wear a light pink V-neck shirt tucked into a black pleated skirt. I also decided to wear a pair of black flats that had a flower accent in the middle above my toes. I went back into the bathroom and pulled my curls into a high-pony tail and left a few of my shorter curls pinned back with a flower clip that matched the flowers on my shoes. I applied nude eyeshadow and black liquid eyeliner. I put on light pink lip-gloss and walked downstairs.

"Bella you look so cute!" Feli said in his happy squeaky sort of voice that almost everyone found adorable.

"Wow, if you weren't already dating Romano I would have definitely gone for you." Gilbert said which made Romano sort of upset.

"Why don't you normally dress like this?" Francis asked which again earned him a smack in the head by Arthur.

"Well, I like looking cute and girly sometimes because some of the outfits like this are my style, but I like the other clothes that I have too. I don't know, it really depends on my mood. I feel more feminine when I am around all of you so I guess that's why I wore this. Maybe it's because I am more confident now that I have you guys. It could also be just because I want to look decent while we are at the mall whereas at school I could care less." I said with a small smile. I walked towards Roma and I held his hand and gave it a squeeze because he looked like he needed it, next thing I knew we were on our way to the mall.

-At the Mall-  
Feli took me to forever 21 because he said that he thinks I would look so cute in most of the clothes there. He started pulling clothes off of shelves an hangers for everyone. Little did we know that we were being watched.

Feli pushed us all near the dressing rooms, arms filled with piles of clothing, to try our outfits on. While we all got changed into our first outfits feli too decided he would pick out some clothes for himself.

We all came out wearing our first outfit. I had a little skimpy black spaghetti strap dress with a knitted see-through red sweater over top of it, paired with black rustic lace-up boots. The guys all stared at me blushing.

Feli did well with picking out clothes for everyone. After we all decided on what we liked we all changed back into our regular clothes and got in the check-out line.

"This is so much fun bella, you literally look adorable in everything I got for you. You would be a great model." He said.

"I think all of you could be models for the store." A man said, "I am the manager here, maybe you guys would like to work as models here. You get paid 80 bucks a day and usually work three to four days a week. Most of the time you work two or more hours. It would just be from like 7-9 or so. We don't have any models because this store just opened here not to long ago. I would really like to have you." The man said.

"I think that would be so fun! We should do it guys!"Feli said.

"I don't know." I said.

"Tell you what, if you work for me I will let you take home at least one outfit of your choice with all of the previous things I just told you and you get a 30% discount on anything in the store." He said, This man must really need workers.

"I'm in." All the guys said.

"I guess that means I am in too." I said.

"Great, I am really glad this worked out because now I don't need to find anymore models." The manager said.

We all followed him back into his office where we gave him all the things he needed from us and filled out multiple papers and he also gave us his number and email. We purchased our things and then decided to go to the movie theater.

We all decided to see that new horror movie that just came out. I have no idea why we thought that would be a good idea. The whole movie I was huddled into Roma's hoodie on the verge of tears. Feli was practically in Ludwig's Armpit and Al was actually okay. He didn't seem scared. When we left the theater we went home. All of us were exhausted. Great, we have school tomorrow.

I walked into my bathroom and took a shower. afterwards I dried off and brushed my teeth. I washed my face before I exited the bathroom to change into a different outfit. I pulled on a pair of shorts and a plain purple t-shirt. I walked out into the hallway to say goodnight to the guys and lukas. He was staring at the ceiling in his crib. He looked restless. I pulled him out of his crib and sat in the rocking chair.

"Guys! if you want you can come say goodnight to lukas before I sing and rock him to sleep!" I called. They all flooded into the room and each one of them gave lukas a little kiss on the forehead. They all sat down on the floor before I started singing Lukas' favorite bed time song. I sang you are my sunshine to the little baby boy and he was asleep by the end of it. I placed him in his crib and the guys all got up and left the room silently behind me. My singing looked like it made Al and feli slightly calmer because they went straight to their rooms after giving me goodnight hugs.

"Roma, will you sleep in my room again tonight? That movie freaked me out more than insidious." I said and he nodded. He crawled into my bed with me and cuddled up to me. Roma is so warm. He smells really good too. I mumbled into his chest and he laughed at me.

"You are going to have to speak louder if you want me to hear you." He said as he smiled down at me.

"What cologne are you wearing Roma because you smell really good." I said.

"I am not wearing any cologne. I usually don't because the stuff smells horrible." He said.

"Then I guess you just naturally smell really really good." He kissed my forehead and I fell asleep soon after.

I am not excited for school tomorrow.


	23. Chapter 23

-Maribella's POV-  
I woke up. My face was pressed against Roma's chest. Good thing he is wearing a shirt. My face burned because I slept with a boy. Well not slept-slept, you know what I meant. I tried to pull away but he just grabbed me and squeezed me tight against him. I giggled and that woke him up.

"Good morning beautiful." Roma said as he yawned and sat up.

"Good morning, are you excited for school today?" I asked him.

"Crap, It's Monday. Your dad is coming home on Wednesday right?"He asked me. I nodded. "This week is going by so fast. I don't want you to leave on Wednesday." He said with a pouty face which made me giggle again. "Your giggle is so cute. I love it." He said. I blushed and pushed him out of my bed.

"We need to get ready for school so we wont be late." I said and he nodded and went to get ready.

I hopped in the shower. I allowed the water to cover me. I love showers. I cleaned up and got out. I dried off. I walked to my closet to find one of the outfits I bought at forever 21. I pulled on my favorite red skater dress. It would be a little chilly out today so I decided to wear a semi see through black and white, loose-fit, striped sweater. I decided to wear black and white converse with no show socks. I mean, why can't I wear sneakers with my dress? I pulled all that on then I walked back into my bathroom. Some of the steam rolled out when I left my door open so my mirror wasn't foggy anymore. I decided to wear my hair down. My curls were full and bouncy today. They had a lot of volume. I actually had that messy curls look going for me. I looked edgy. I wasn't going to be pushed around today. Hanging out with these boys has given me a little more confidence. I applied bright scarlet red lipstick on. I put on nude eye shadow and a little black eyeliner as well as mascara. My eyelashes looked so full and long. I applied a little blush, but not too much. I grabbed my cashmere glow bath and body works spray and sprayed a little in my hair and my neck and wrists. I grabbed backpack and walked down the hall to see how lukas is doing.

I entered his room and there he was squirming around in his crib. I picked him up and brought him downstairs. He was looking at me and smiling like usual. I kissed his forehead, good thing my lipstick doesn't smudge or he would look rather silly right now. I descended the staircase. I placed my backpack on the couch in the living room before making my way to the kitchen where most of the guys would be by now. I entered the kitchen and everyone was seated at the table eating their food, half asleep. Mattie practically had his head in his stack of pancakes.

"Good morning everyone." I said cheerfully. Everyone looked up at me. I guess I woke them up because their eyes were wide open. "What? Is there something on my face?" I asked slightly worried.

"N-No, you look..." Roma said trailing off.

"Fraulein, You look hot!" Gilbert said. Artie smacked him in the back of the head which gil the apologized.

"You look really nice Maribella." Roma said with a blush. I blushed and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek which only made his face even redder. I giggled a little and then went to make a bottle for Luka. I gave Luka (Luka is the nickname that Roma gave him and I've taken a liking to it) to Feli who fed Luka since I still needed to eat breakfast. I went to the fruit basket and grabbed a banana. I sat at the table with my banana and started eating it.

"You guys look really tired, how late did you all stay up last night?" I asked them.

"I went to bed at 2am." Francis said.

"I went to bed at about 1:30 because Francis was singing and I couldn't sleep but eventually I guess I just passed out." Al said and the rest said in agreement.

"Roma, when did we go to sleep?" I asked him.

"You guys slept together again?" Gil asked. We nodded.

"She was scared. We probably crashed around I don't know, Midnight maybe." He said. That sounded about right. Six and a half hours isn't bad.

I finished my banana just as Grandpa Rome came downstairs. He was wearing a suit. He grabbed Luka and blew kisses.

"I am going to work now, Luka is coming with because I am the manager and I feel like it. He is a good baby anyway so I doubt he will cause any problems." We all nodded and he grabbed Lukas' stuff and set it in the stroller. We all waved as he exited the door.

"We should probably be getting a move on as well. We don't want to be late." Artie said and we were off. I carpooled with Gil, Ludwig, Feli, and Roma. Antonio, Francis, Artie, Al, and Mattie all took Al's car. We drove for about 10 minutes before we were in the school parking lot. All of us exited the car and got our things. I held Roma's hand as we all approached the hellish building. We walked inside and the guys were approached and greeted by all of the females of our class. The guys met up with the rest of the soccer team and started chatting. Roma and I said our goodbyes and left. Just before we were out of earshot I heard,

"Who is that hot chic with Romano?" From a boy name Matthias. I also heard a few other guys whistling.

We made our way to our lockers and grabbed the things we would need for the first half of the day. Before I could even put a few of my books away more letters fell from my locker. The people at this school really don't like me. I could feel the tears brimming in my eyes. The day hasn't even started yet and I am already upset.

"Mari, take a deep breath. It's okay. They are just being bastards, None of the things on those letters about you are true. They are all just jealous because you are with me now and because I refuse to pay any of the other girls any attention. They are also mad that you are hanging out with the cutest boys of the soccer team." Roma said trying to reassure me. I took a deep breath and calmed myself down.

The other guys walked by and saw the state I was in and all the letters. Each of them bent down and read one. Gil, Ludwig, and Al got really angry. Feli, Francis, Antonio, and Mattie all had sympathetic looks. Feli bent over and started picking up the rest of the notes and after he had all of them he grabbed my arm and led me to the garbage can where he threw them all away and then gave me a reassuring hug.

"There, now there aren't anymore. It's like they were never here. How about we pretend they never were." He suggested and I nodded. We walked back to my locker and the guys all enveloped me in a group hug and said their apologies.

"We should get to class." Antonio said and we all made our way to our first periods.

I sat in between Roma and Antonio and the teacher walked in just as we were seated.

"Okay class, I want you to make groups of three. We are going to be doing group projects for King Henry IV." He said. Antonio and Roma looked at me and we all nodded. A bunch of girls swarmed around us begging Antonio and Roma to be in their group to which the politely declined because they already had a group. I got a lot of nasty looks from the girls in that class.

"Okay class, I want each of you to send one of your group members up to draw a piece of paper from this hat." The teacher said. I decided to walk up and draw our character. Hopefully I pick a fun one.

As I walked up to the front of the class to get out piece of paper the girl in the front row stuck out her foot into the aisle hoping to trip me. Just as I was about to the guy in the seat next to her grabbed my arm.

"Watch where you step, I wouldn't want you to fall." He said politely and then I noticed the foot in the aisle. I walked around her foot and up to grab a slip of paper. I walked back to my seat confidently and smiled. I did it.

"Okay class, before you unfold your slips of paper, I am going to explain the project. I will give each group a really big piece of paper that we will hang up. We are going to make twitter pages for each of the characters. You will create a profile for your character on your paper and make three meaningful tweets paraphrasing important events that happened in the character's past and you can add hash-tags or whatever you want to your three tweets. After that I want you and your group to go find two other character profiles and comment on one of their tweets. This is supposed to be a fun project so have fun with it!" The teacher said with a smile. I love this class.

We opened up our slip of paper and we had...Hal. We could do some fun tweets with this character. We started to organize our paper. I drew a silly little caricature of what I thought Hal would look like. Our first tweet was princeredhairdontcare: Staying away at the pub to drink with the ladies and Fatso Fal instead of some lame meeting at the castle#Rebelredhead. We left some room for other groups to comment before creating our next tweet, princeredhairdontcare: Playing a prank on the pals, I wonder what lies falstaff will make up this time#Itotallybelieveyouwereattackedbyninjas, our final tweet was, princeredhairdontcare: Saved my kingdom from a rebellion today#redheadtotherescue. We left comment space under all of our tweets before hanging it up on the wall and writing our names on it. We walked around the classroom until we found King Henry's profile. We saw a tweet that said Kinggrumpypants: I am pretty sure the baby fairy gave me the wrong kid#switchedatbirth. We commented, princeredhairdontcare: WOW Dad, I really feel the love#badDad. Then we walked around and saw Hotspur's profile. The tweet we commented on was HotheadHarry: Bout to rebel against the king#yoloswag. We commented, princeredhairdontcare: Goodluck lol#Bringiton You have no idea what you're in for buddy#SurpriseSurprise. We all sat down and the teacher red our profiles out loud to the other students earning lots of chuckles and cheers.

"Class, everyone did a really good job, Everyone get's a 100% on these projects. I can tell you all really pay attention. I am glad we could have a fun monday." He said and we were all dismissed ten minutes early from his class. I had so much fun that I completely forgot about the notes and was cheery through all of my morning classes.

-Time Skip Lunch-  
Roma and I walked to our lunch table together with the guys. Antonio, Roma, and I were laughing and talking about our favorite tweets from first period. The rest of the others joined in and laughed at our cleverness. I left lunch early to go to my locker and then to the bathroom to do some touch ups. While I was doing my makeup I heard some stall doors open. I got nervous. I smelled a familiar fragrance. The girl who attacked me on my second day was alone with me in a bathroom. This couldn't be good. I was about to leave when the familiar girl grabbed my arm. She pulled me into a punch right to my mouth. I could taste the Iron flood onto my taste buds. She cut my lip.

"I guess you didn't learn your lesson from last time. Stay away from Roma and the rest of the soccer team, you are not worth their time." She drew back her fist and launched it at me. Before she could make contact with any major organs or cause me any real damage I caught her punch and used her momentum to send her flying to the right and colliding with the bathroom floor. She looked up at me angry.

"YOU BITCH!" She screamed at me as she scrambled to her feet to try and attack me again. By the time she managed to get up I was out of the bathroom an making my way back to the lunch table. I took my seat and saw the guys with shocked expressions.

"Fraulein! What happened to your lip!?" He asked me in an extremely worried tone.

"Oh, nothing!" I said.

"We should go to the nurses office to get some bandages." Roma said, Just as we got up the girl from the bathroom found me.

"I wasn't done with you bitch." She said angrily. She again sent her fist in direction. I caught her hand and used it to turn her around and twist her arm behind her back. She struggled to get out of my grasp because I was holding her with a lot of force.

"I think we are done here." I said as I pushed her away from me unharmed. She was fuming and stomped off.

"Maribella...? When did you learn to fight?" Gil asked me.

"Um.. well I always sort of knew because my uncle taught me when I was really young. I just refused to use it until now because I sort of felt like I deserved all the punches and kicks that came my way but when I met you guys I gained a little confidence and know that I am worth something and I can't be pushed around by others. I wouldn't hurt anyone unless it is my last resort but I can use their momentum against them and dodge attacks." I said. He nodded and Roma decided now was a good time to go get my lip looked at by the nurse. We left the lunchroom in awe.

While we were at the nurses she told me that my lip was okay and gave me some tissues and gauze to apply pressure to the wound to get the blood flow to stop. Once I stopped bleeding we made our way back to class.

-Time Skip: End of Day-  
I approached my locker and grabbed all of the necessary belongings before I headed to the parking lot. Roma and I got a ride with Mattie and Al because we were going to have a mini band session. We got set up and I took the mike. I knew exactly what I wanted to sing.

What if the devil was a lie?  
What if God did not exist?  
So, with all due respect  
Tell me, what is death  
If life is just a bitch?

I see the evil in their eyes  
I hear the lies behind their grin  
They wander in the dark  
They do not have a heart  
Don't let them take you in

(Brace for impact!)

You will pay the price  
For betraying me  
You will pay the price  
You will pay the price  
For betraying me  
You will pay the price

So save yourself  
Because the tide is rising high

It's sink or swim  
It's hit or miss  
What will you pick?  
So take some action  
Don't let the undertow grab hold

It's sink or swim  
It's hit or miss  
Man overboard  
Man overboard

Do you believe in ghosts?  
Conducting from the grave?  
We're nothing but pawns  
So move to where they want  
'Cause life is just a game

I have my hands around your throat  
With a smile upon my face  
Squeeze until you choke  
I will not let go until I feel ok.

You will pay the price  
For betraying me  
You will pay the price  
For betraying...

So save yourself  
Because the tide is rising high  
It's sink or swim  
It's hit or miss  
What will you pick?  
So take some action  
Don't let the undertow grab hold

It's sink or swim  
It's hit or miss  
Man overboard  
Man overboard

I bid farewell  
To you, fairweather friend  
I know someday you'll get what you deserve (You deserve)  
And after all (And after all)  
The bridges you have burned  
I've forgiven you for things you have done

I bid farewell,  
To you, fairweather friend  
I know someday you'll get what you deserve (You deserve)  
And after all (And after all)  
The bridges you have burned  
I've forgiven you for the things you have done (You have done)

So save yourself  
Because the tide is rising high  
It's sink or swim  
It's hit or miss  
What will you pick?  
So take some action  
Don't let the undertow grab hold  
It's sink or swim  
It's hit or miss  
Man overboard (Man overboard)  
Man overboard (Man overboard)  
Man overboard

It's sink or swim  
It's hit or miss  
What will you pick?  
Man overboard (Man overboard)  
Man overboard (Man overboard)

It's sink or swim  
It's hit or miss  
What will you pick?  
Man overboard!

I finished out the song and smiled. That felt really good.

"We ROCK!" Al said.

"Mari, you really have a lot of confidence when you sing. You are amazing." Mattie said.

We packed up our stuff and headed home. When we got home I found little Luka sleeping on Grandpa Rome's chest. I picked him up and he opened his eyes. When he saw the cut on my lip he immediately touched it. I didn't feel a thing. I took him too his cradle and set him in it and started the mobile. He immediately passed out again. I went to my room to change. I put on a pair of shorts and a t shirt and walked into the bathroom to pull my hair up. I took a closer in the mirror and my lip was fully healed. Weird. I let it go and walked downstairs to find Roma watching T.V. I decided to cuddle with him.


	24. Chapter 24

-Roma's POV-  
Her head was resting on my shoulder and her hand was on my chest. She was really warm. I pressed my hand to her forehead. She was a little hot. I pressed the back of my hand to her cheek. I texted Feli.

'Hey Feli, can you find me a thermometer. Mari is a little hot.' I sent.

'She is more than a little hot. She is beautiful :P and yeah I have one I will be down in a sec. I hope she isn't sick.'He replied. I chuckled which startled her.

"Roma? Why are you laughing?" She asked with a slight smile. I kissed her forehead.

"I just remembered something funny." I answered and she gave me a weird look.

Feli was downstairs and handed me the thermometer. I put it in Mari's mouth and waited for the little beep. 102.7, the little screen read.

"I need the results stat Doc." She said in a silly voice.

"It looks like a certain girl isn't going to school tomorrow." I said and she looked at me surprised.

"Of course Petey isn't going to school. She is just a dog." She said as she stuck out her tongue.

"I meant you. You have a fever of 102.7. Maybe I should miss school tomorrow too to get you to the doctor's." I said as I gave her a piggyback up the stairs to bed.

"But I don't wanna!" She said in a little kid voice.

"She doesn't want to what?" My grandpa asked right before we passed him in the hall.

"Well, she has a fever and I was thinking someone needs to take her to the doctor's for a check up." I replied hoping he would let me take her.

"I can take her." He said. I sighed in defeat and nodded.

"Okay, but I want you to text me as soon as you get home from the doctor's." I tell her. She ruffles my hair and kisses the top of my head.

"Yes sir!" She says and does a salute.

I set her down on her bed and she tackled me. I chuckled. She was sitting on top of me.

"Ohonhonhon what's going on in here?" Francis said as he glanced in the room.

"Nothing similar to what you are thinking." Mari said as she gave him a mock glare and got off of me. She gave me a hug and pushed me out of her room. "Nighty night." She said as she blew kisses. She closed her door leaving me standing next to Francis.

"Tomorrow is going to suck." I said to Francis as my shoulders slumped forward.

"Why? What'd I miss?" He asked me scratching his head.

"Maribella is sick and she won't be at school tomorrow whereas I still have to go." I said. Francis patted my back.

"You'll live. We will keep you from talking to other women." He said with a chuckle which earned him a slap in the back of the head from me. I walked to my room and shook my head. I fell onto my bed. I don't want to go to school. I heard crying coming from Lukas. I got up and went to check on him.

I entered his room and he was wiggling around and fussing. I felt his forehead and he too had a fever. I pulled the thermometer out of my pocket and attached the little sterilized part and put it in his ear to check his temperature. 102.7, the thermometer read. I checked again to make sure it wasn't just me. He has the same temperature as Maribella. I picked up the wiggling little boy and started whispering things to him to get him to quiet down while I rocked him. He feel back asleep and I slowly put him back in his crib. I walked out and then to my grandpa.

"Luka has a fever too. Can you take him with you to the doctor and get him checked out." I said as I yawned. He nodded and I headed back to my room. I took off my shirt. I went into the bathroom and looked at the little scars from injuries and being a boy. So many little scars. I quit looking and changed out of my jeans and into sweatpants. I brushed my teeth and walked out of my room. I plopped down on my bed and got comfortable. I heard a small knock at my door.

"Come in." I called.

Maribella walked in and plopped down beside me.

"I can't sleep." She said.

"I can't either." I replied.

She turned to face me and cuddled up to my chest. She started tracing all the little scars and asking about how I got them and I would tell her the whole story. After awhile we both fell asleep.

-Time Skip: Next Morning-

I woke up with her face pressed against my chest. She was definitely out like a light. She was way to sick to go to school. I tried to crawl out of bed to get ready but she pulled me back into bed.

"Don't, you're to warm to leave." She said as she opened her eyes. I chuckled and kissed her cheek.

"I have to, I have school." I said. She made a pouty face and then let go of me. I went to my closet and grabbed some clothes and then to the bathroom to get ready.

I showered and dried off. I put my clothes on and combed my hair. I left the bathroom and saw Maribella passed out on the bed. She looked content so I left her.

I walked out of my room and down to the kitchen. All the guys were sitting there eating. I take it they are just going to live at my house now. They all looked at me with confused expressions.

"Where is Bella?" Feli asked.

"She has a fever so she is going with grandpa to the doctor along with Luka." I said. They all looked slightly worried but calmed down assuming that everything would be okay.

Mari walked down stairs and everyone looked at her. I blushed a little. She was wearing a big T shirt but I couldn't really tell if she was wearing pants. She tried rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Bella are you wearing pants?" Feli asked her. She lifted up her shirt showing some extremely short shorts. She yawned then came over to me and hopped on my back. I gave her a piggy back ride around the house stopping in the kitchen to grab some pop tarts. I handed her one and headed back towards the dining room where the guys were all talking and discussing homework.

"We should probably get going." Arthur said. Maribella pouted and walked me too the door. I gave her a huge hug and a kiss on the forehead before waving goodbye to her. Today is going to suck without her. I hope girls don't try to bother me today just because she isn't here with me. I sighed and hopped into the back of Gilbert's car. I looked out he window and watched the scenery pass by as we made our way to school.

We were at the school building and I grabbed my backpack. I walked into the school accompanied by the guys like usual. As if on cue a group of girls swarmed us. They were trying to flirt with me but I just pushed past them and made my way to my locker. I opened it up and started putting my belongings away. I closed my locker and less then a foot away from me was the girl Maribella fought yesterday( well more like blocked). She was smirking at me. I just looked at her.

"Hi Lovino, how are you today?" She said in a fake cheery voice.

"I'm okay, do you need something?" I asked coldly. She looked slightly taken aback but brushed it off.

"I was wondering if maybe you want to study after school at the library with me for our big English test." She said with a smile.

"Sorry, I have other plans with Maribella. She is tutoring me in English because I don't understand the book." I replied. She scoffed.

"You would rather hang out with that no good loser. She isn't even in the same social bracket as we are. I mean, she is so ugly. Would you really rather hang out with her instead of me?"She asked me with a shocked expression.

"I would hang out with any other person on this planet instead of you. You are just another snotty rich girl who wants to use me to get to my brother. Lucky for me my brother is also taken. Leave Maribella out of this. You are right when you say she isn't in the same bracket as us. She is in a class so much higher. We are way out of her league and you are just jealous. Leave me and her alone" I replied to her. She looked upset.

"You will regret you ever said that to me. I can see why you two are perfect for each other. You are both losers. I am sure the second your friends realize that they will come running to me. You will be left in the dust." She said with such malice in her voice. I just shrugged her off and went to first period with Antonio. I was fuming. How can she talk like that and still have friends.

"What's wrong Roma?" Antonio asked me slightly concerned as we walked into first period and took our seats.

"Just some dumb girl." I said as I clenched my fists.

"Oh what happened in the hallway?" He asked.

"Basically this girl wanted me to study with her and I said I don't feel like it and then she insulted maribella so I got upset and I said something and then she called us losers and said that you guys will all run to her when you realize it." I relayed to him and he looked offended.

"She really said all that. I can't believe this. How can anyone be so mean to Mari? That girl is insane." He said.

I rested my head in my hands. Today sucks and first period hasn't even started yet. How in the world am I going to get through the rest of the day like this.

-Maribella's POV-

I walked into my bathroom. I put my hair up and brushed my teeth. I washed my face and dried it before exiting the bathroom. I put on some sweatpants and a tank top. I walked over to little Petey and gave her a belly rub and some kibble. She wagged her tail and I smiled. I walked to Lukas' room and there he was like usual, squirming around and cooing. I felt his forehead, he was hot. I checked his temperature and then mine, we both had a fever of 101.4. I picked Luka up and put him in one of his onesies. He was sucking his thumb and trying to stay awake. I placed him in his carrier and walked out of the hallway and then down the stairs. As I made my way to the front door I noticed Rome was already there. He opened the door for me and motioned for me to walk out. I did as he asked and walked over to the car. I got Luka's carrier situated in the back seat and then sat in the seat next to his. I buckled up and then shut the door. Rome sat in the driver seat and started the car. He closed his door and buckled as well. He started to drive. He looked at me in the mirror.

"Maribella, how are you holding up?" He asked. I could hear the worry in his tone of voice and see it in his facial expressions.

"I'm okay I guess." I said while nodding. His facial expression changed from worry to relief. Then he opened his mouth to speak again.

"I am really glad you and my grandson are dating." He said. I nodded and replied, although not wanting to have this conversation (especially in a car on the way to the doctor's) I humored him.

"I am really glad too. He saved me. He means the world to me." I said. He nodded and focused his gaze back on the road that was before him. He continued driving. I looked out the window and saw people and grass and this entirely complete beautiful image of nature. I watched the scenery whirl past me for awhile before checking on Lukas. He was staring at his mobile and sucking his thumb half awake. When I looked back up at the window I saw Doctor Ivan's office coming in to view.

When we were parked in the parking lot I exited the car and got Lukas out.

"Here, I can carry him for you." Rome said as he took the carrier. We walked into the office and to the lady at the front desk.

"Do you have an appointment?" She asked and Rome nodded.

"Well, you can wait over there," she said motioning to the chairs in the waiting room," and the doctor or a nurse will be right with you." She said with a smile that eased my mind slightly.

Just as as we were about to sit down a women opened a door and called for us.

"Maribella, Lukas?" She asked. We three got up and followed the smaller old woman into an evaluation room of some sort. I unbuckled Lukas and picked him up. He started playing with my hair.

After about ten minutes of waiting Doctor Ivan entered the room.

"I am sorry to keep you waiting, we had a situation with a toddler." He said. I nodded in understanding. We sat down in the chairs and he started with his observations of Luka. He finished up and then checked me. After about fifteen minutes of checking us out he sat us down.

"I don't see anything particularly wrong with you other than your fever. You don't seem to have a cough or any symptoms of a Flu or Strep. I honestly thing you just need to rest up today and you should be good to go tomorrow. If you still have a fever come and see me tomorrow." He said. I nodded and we were on our way. I redressed Luka and set him back in his carrier. Rome picked him up and Dr. Ivan led us out of his office. We walked back out to the car and we were on our way. I pulled out my phone and started texting Roma knowing he would be at lunch.

-Romano's POV-

I sat down at the lunch table. I pulled out my pasta and looked around the table. Everyone seemed slightly upset because Antonio told them throughout the day what had happened with me this morning. As I opened the container I felt a vibration in my pocket. I pulled out my phone and saw a message from Maribella.

'Hey, the doctor said that we don't seem to have any problems other than the fever. He recommended sleep and said that the fevers should be gone by tomorrow. So, how is school?' She asked me. Thank god I got this message. It made my day a little better. I pondered for a little while before I decided to call her.

Ring Ring...Ring Ring...R- "Hello?" Maribella answered.

"Hey, It's me. I am really glad everything is okay with you. I was really worried about the two of you. School sucks without you." I answered the question from her text.

The guys noticed I was on the phone and started smiling.

"Is that bella? Put her on speaker! Put her on speaker!" Feli said as the guys all nodded excitedly. Maybe they are having bad days too.

"Hey Mari, hold on a second I am putting you on speaker so the guys can hear you too." I said as I put the phone on the table for the rest of the guys to hear and contribute to the conversation.

"Hi guys! Why are you having a bad day?" She asked me.

"Well, just a bad morning. Everything is so boring." I replied.

"Bella, are you feeling better?" Antonio asked.

"Yeah, I don't feel as hot. I think I will be up for school tomorrow."

"Well, that's good." Al said,"Do you think we should practice tonight or should we just chill for the night?" He asked.

"I don't care, it's up to you" She said nonchalantly.

"We should totally practice!" Al said.

"I think we should chill tonight. I mean the doctor did recommend rest." I said. Al looked a little sad but agreed.

I finished up the conversation and cleaned up my lunch mess. I walked over to my locker and put my things away before grabbing what I would need for the last class of the day. I walked to the fountain to get a drink of water. As I stood back up I saw the girl from earlier this morning approaching me. I started to walk to class not wanting to converse with her. She ran a little to catch up to me.

"Hey Lovi, I forgive you for earlier. How about you and I go out for ice cream after school." She offered with a hopeful and determined look on her face.

"I would really rather not." I said shutting her down. She gave me a fake pouty face.

"Why not?" She asked in an annoying high pitched voice.

"Because my girlfriend is sick and so is Luka. I would rather take care of them than go out for ice cream." I said.

"Wow Lovi, I didn't know you were so caring. Maybe I can come over and help out too." She said.

"No, I don't think Bella would be comfortable with that. I mean, why would I let someone who treats her like trash help her heal?" I asked.

"Wow, someone is a grumpy butt today." She said.

"Just leave me alone please." I said as I tried to walk away. She grabbed my arm and started hugging it and trying to hold my hand. I was getting more frustrated by the minute. Antonio walked over and saw her bothering me.

"Chica, get off of him. You know he has a girlfriend. The only reason you want him is because he is taken by a girl who you hate and you don't want to see her happy. Seriously, even Francis has standards as to who he will date and you are definitely not meeting those right now." Antonio said as he spat in her direction. She just let go and stomped of in a rage.

"Thanks, Antonio. She really irks me. She thinks I am lucky to be graced with her presence. She is so full of herself." I said. He patted my back and we made our way to last period. I am almost done with the day. I am surprised I haven't collapsed or something from boredom. I walked to my last period class and took a seat.

-Time Skip: Home-

I threw my schoolbag on the bench by the window in the front room. Thank the lord that school is over. I kicked off my shoes and walked upstairs in search of the girl I have been missing all day. I walked through the hallway stopping to check on Luka and found him fast asleep in his crib. Then I went to check on Maribella who was laying on her bed doing the homework Feli brought up to her. I jumped on to her bed and kissed her cheek. She giggled and set down her homework. We held hands and laid down for awhile before either of us spoke.

"So Feli told me about what happened today, I can't believe the nerve of that girl I mean literally. Why would she take an interest in you all of the sudden?" She asked me. I could see the worry in her face as thoughts ran through her mind.

"I don't know, don't worry about it. I would pick you over some girl any day so don't worry about it." I kissed her on her cheek and she smiled. I am glad I convinced her that everything was okay. Feli came in and we all chatted until it was time for dinner. At dinner everyone talked about their day in case Maribella missed anything big. After dinner I piggybacked Maribella up to her room where she got ready for bed. Well, the beginning of the day wasn't awesome but the end was amazing.


	25. Chapter 25

-Roma's POV-  
Bella, Feli, Ludwig, Gil, and I were all carpooling home like normal. The drive from work to home is only about a twenty minute drive. The sky was a navy blue, the moon was out, streetlamps were on to light the little concrete sidewalks. I stared out the window and watched the stars fly by as we drove. Everything was so peaceful. It was silent in the car. Feli had his head pressed up against the glass. He was breathing slowly and his eyes were closed. He was asleep. Gil was just concentrating on the road before him. He is an excellent driver. Ludwig too was asleep. The big guy looked so peaceful when he slept, like a gentle giant. Mari had her head on my shoulder. She was playing with my fingers. She yawned and I wrapped my arm around her so she could get more comfortable. After a while I felt her poking my side. I looked down at her.

"Do you need something Bella?" I asked her. She nodded her head.

"Do you still want to study for our English quiz when we get home. Its our last one for the quarter before spring break and I didn't know if your grade was banking on this quiz. I mean I don't even know how you're doing in any of your classes. We don't really talk about school." She said.

"Bella, you really need to breathe in between your monologues. I would appreciate the extra help yes. I am doing fine in all of my classes except my English grade is dropping into the C range because I am having trouble with Shakespeare. I have had at least a B+ in all my classes this year and then Shakespeare happened and its making my grade drop a little low. " I replied as she listened intently.

"Well, I believe this "quiz" is 200 points so if you ace it you will at least have a B in the class, if not higher. I will stay up with you to study if you would like."

"That would be really helpful, yes, I would really appreciate that Bella." I said as I kissed her on top of the head. Just as we finished our conversation we pulled into the driveway. Feli and Ludwig both opened their eyes and Gil parked. We all filed out of the car and made our way to the porch. We were the last group of people to get home because we got caught in traffic. We walked into the house and kicked out shoes off leaving a pile at the door. Bella walked upstairs to check on Luka and I walked into the kitchen to grab my backpack off of the dining table. I swung the bag over my shoulder and carried it up the stairs with me. I threw it into my room and walked into the nursery where Bella was singing a half awake Luka to sleep. The guys were all gathered around her like usual and she sang Luka his favorite song. I smiled. This is a real family. I hope this never changes. Bella finished up and put Luka to sleep. We all walked silently out of the room and into our own rooms. I grabbed my toothbrush and began my bedtime routine. I brushed my teeth, combed my hair, took off my shirt and jeans, then I hopped into bed and waited for Bella to come visit me with her school stuff. After sitting in silence for around five minutes I heard a soft knocking at my door.

"Come in." I said as Bella walked in carrying her notes, a pen, a highlighter, a pencil, and her Shakespeare book. She was wearing a white tank top and some gray shorts. They were really short. I am not sure how I am going to be able to focus on our work. She sat on the bed next to me and then shifted to her stomach so she could get more comfortable.

"Are you ready?" She asked me, I simply nodded. She began going over main ideas and important quotes and events in the story. After she explained her interpretations to me I started to understand the language a little more. King Henry IV is a really good story if you know the language. I was generally intrigued with what she was telling me about the characters and I felt like I could relate to the book the way she was telling the story to me. She even taught me the correct way to annotate and how to know what is important and she even explained a lot of the imagery and parallel's really well. I feel really confident for the test tomorrow.

It's 11 and Bella should probably head to bed soon. She began piling up everything she brought with her and before she could get completely off the bed I pulled her back onto the bed and into my chest. Her cheeks were light pink. She looked so adorable. I kissed her cheek and she smiled. She rested her body into my grip a little more and set her stuff on the ground.

"Thank you for tutoring me. I would probably fail that test tomorrow if you didn't help me. I owe you a favor now, so if you ever need anything just tell me and I will do my best to make it happen." I said and she giggled. She gave me a quick peck on the lips before hopping out of my arms.

"I need to get to bed, we have school tomorrow and I don't even have my outfit picked out or my bag packed. I love you and your welcome." She said as she walked out of my room and into hers. I rolled onto my back and stared up at my ceiling. I still had all the stick up glow in the dark stars from when I was little up there. I turned out my lights and just continued to stare at my ceiling.

Flashback:  
"Waaahhhhh, Waaaaahh, GRANDPA!" Little Roma said as alligator tears cascaded down his chubby little cheeks.

"What are you doing awake at this time of night Romano? A big boy like you needs his sleep so he can grow up to be strong." A tired and slightly agitated Grandpa Rome said.

"It's too scary. I don't l-like the d-dark." Little Roma said through sad hiccups. Rome just patted little Romano on the head.

"I have an Idea,"Rome said as he hopped out of the room and came back with packages in his arms."How about I light your room up for you a little." He said with a smile.

"O-Okay." Little Roma said. Rome opened the packages of star stickers and handed a few to Roma. Roma got up on a ladder with Rome right behind him and the two of them began placing the little glow in the dark stickers everywhere, littering the whole ceiling with the small celestial beings. A few hours later Roma was fast asleep in bed and Rome kissed Roma on the head before exiting the room satisfied that the little toddler would be able to sleep the rest of the night.  
End of Flashback

I can't believe my grandpa stayed up with me just to stick all these little stickers on the ceiling. I want to be that Role Model for my children. I can't believe the kinds of things parents do to make their kid feel happy. I could learn a thing of two from my grandpa. He really is the most responsible adult I know although people only see him for the few bad things that he has done. He really is the best.

-Time Skip: The Next Morning-  
I opened my eyes. It was a little chilly in my room. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I looked at the clock. 6:10. I should go get ready. I walked to my bathroom. I grabbed my toothbrush and started brushing, I spit and then I put some deodorant on. I combed my hair and left the bathroom. I grabbed a shirt and some jeans from my dresser and pulled them onto my body. I walked out of my room and down the stairs to where everyone was eating breakfast. When do these guys all wake up? I grabbed a waffle and shoved it in my mouth. I went back upstairs and grabbed my shoes and socks. Just as I left to go back down stairs I heard Luka crying. I went over to his room and saw his little body wiggling around. I picked him u and started rocking him but he was still fussing. I walked into Bella's room and she was sound asleep. I better wake her up. I set Luka on her bed, right next to her head. He started touching her face and laughing. Bella woke up and picked Luka up.

"Is it time to get up already?" She asked me.

"Yeah, it's the last day of school for this week and then spring break. You can make it through the day." I said. She nodded and handed me the baby so she could go get ready for school.

I brought Luka downstairs with me and passed him off to Feli who was desperately waiting for his turn. He started playing with little Luka and Ludwig was just chuckling and kissing Feli on the cheek. I sat down at the table and waited for Bella to come downstairs. After a few minutes she came downstairs. She came down in a dress that had a White top and a baby blue, high-waist skirt. She had a pretty silver tree necklace and some sandals. She looked beautiful. She always does. Heck if she came down in one of my T shirts and pair of sweatpants she would look fantastic. She grabbed an apple and sat on the counter.

"Hey Bella, are you ready for spring break?" Feli asked.

"I guess, I don't know. I mean I don't really have any plans so I will probably just sit around the whole time and do nothing." She replied.

"Oh we should all go to the zoo or to the beach or something." Feli said.

"That sounds awesome." Gil said. The rest of us just nodded, too tired to contribute to the conversation.

"We should be leaving for school soon." Arthur said. There he goes, always the responsible one. We all nodded and Feli handed the baby off to grandpa. We cleaned up our breakfast messes and left the house. This time Bella and I drove with Antonio and Francis and Arthur. Arthur sat in the Back with Bella and I. Bella sat in the middle. She rested her head on my shoulder and yawned. My leg was bouncing up and down because I was nervous.

"Roma?"

"hm,"

"Are you nervous for our test today?" She asked me.

"um yeah." I said not looking into her eyes. She kissed me on the nose and hugged me.

"You will be fine, I am positive of that." She said and I nodded. We pulled into the school parking lot. I got out and helped Bella out of the car. She tripped and I caught her. I helped her stand up and get her footing. We walked into the building holding hands. Like usual all the girls swarmed and Bella and I pushed our way through the crowd. We walked to our locker and we put everything away. We stood there for awhile looking at each other. I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a hug that lasted for like 3 minutes.

"Eww, get a room." Alyssa (The girl who has been bugging Bella since she first stated coming to school). She crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

"Do you need something?" Bella asked politely.

"I need to talk to Romano," She said with disgust. Bella looked at me and then back at Alyssa.

"You can talk to me now, I am listening." I said.

"Um, Privately." She said.

"Anything you need to tell me you can say in front of Bella." I said. She looked at me and then at Bella and then opened her mouth to speak.

"I was wondering if you and the rest of the soccer team wanted to come to my party. My parents are leaving town for spring break so I am throwing a pool party." She said.

"I am sure the guys would like to come, If Maribella can come as well, otherwise we all had plans to go to the beach together. Whatever we do during break we plan on doing together." I said. Alyssa looked at me and then at Bella.

"Fine, I guess she can come too." She said.

"Okay I will let the guys know." I said and she walked off.

-Time Skip: Lunch-  
I sat down at the table. I just had pizza. I waited for the rest of the guys to come to the table. They all made it from the line. The lines were long and slow today. It is grilled cheese day of course the lines are so long. Everyone commenced their happy lunch time chatter before I cleared my throat, I got everyone's attention.

"Ahem! Guys, The whole soccer team was invited to a pool party at Alyssa's house. Her parents are going out of town for spring break and she asked me to tell you all about the invitation." I said. A lot of the guys looked slightly upset at her name and Bella was looking down at the table.

"Roma, Was Bella invited?" Feli asked me.

"I told her that the team wouldn't go if she wasn't invited because we planned on spending the whole spring break together." I said.

"Well, I will go if Bella goes. I don't care either way since we already planned on hitting the beach during break. You don't need to feel pressured Bella. If you don't want to go we all will respect your decision. I wouldn't want to go either." Antonio said and we all nodded in agreement.

"I don't want to be a party pooper and ruin the fun for all of you I mean I am sure it will be an awesome pool party and I wouldn't want to be the reason why you all miss out on the fun. I will go as long as you all go. I will stick with you guys so I don't feel like an outcast at the party. If you are all okay with that." She said.

"Are you sure?" I said. She nodded and I draped my arm over her shoulder. She snuggled closer to me and I started eating my lunch. She wasn't eating anything, I offered her a slice of my pizza but she declined. Then I saw Feli's eyes light up.

"Hey Bella, do you have a swimsuit yet?" Feli asked her. She shook her head no.

"How about tonight, you and I go shopping. We can hang out, just the two of us. You look like you need some girl time." He said. Bella giggled and nodded her head.

"I want to go swimsuit shopping with you guys." Francis said as he wiggled his eyebrow suggestively. Arthur just hit him in the back of the head and Francis stopped. He always manages to get Francis under control so easily. I wonder if anything is going on between the two of them.

We finished up lunch and walked back to our last class to finish out the day.

"Hey Roma, how do you think you did on our Shakespeare test this morning?" She asked me.

"I think I did really well, I mean I understood the questions and felt confident with my answers. You are a really good tutor. Thanks for helping me last night." I said as I blushed and rubbed the back of my head. She kissed me and continued walking with me to our last class of the day.

-Time Skip: End of the day/Last Bell-  
Couples were making out in the hallways, girls and boys were cheering. Things are pretty lively around here since it's spring break. Bella and I walked to our lockers. We grabbed our backpacks and packed them with anything we would nee, which was nothing because all of our teachers gave us a break so we wouldn't have homework during spring break. We held hands and walked out of the building together. Feli was waiting for us at the front doors. It was nice out so Feli, Ludwig, Bella, and I decided that walking home would be a good thing for all of us. Ludwig had his arm wrapped around Feli's shoulders and I had my arm wrapped around Bella's. We walked quietly for a while before we started some friendly chitchat.

"Bella, do you think we should keep our outfits a surprise for the party tomorrow?" Feli asked her. She nodded and giggled. Ludwig just kissed Feli on top of the head and I gave Bella a gentle squeeze on her shoulder.

"Bella, why didn't you eat anything at lunch today?" I asked her. She just shrugged.

"I just wasn't hungry." She said.

"I am just glad you weren't trying to starve yourself so you would look good in a swimsuit because you don't need to. You look perfect how you are and I don't want you to change at all." I said and she was red like one of my beloved tomatoes. I kissed her forehead.

We made it home and walked into the house. All of the guys were already sitting in the living room watching TV together being the silly guys that they are. Bella and I went up to check on Luka. He was doing his silly little wiggle in his crib as he waited for one of us to pick him up. Bella picked him up and then I went into her room to go let petey out. I grabbed the little puppy and we carried the baby mammals down stairs to hang out with the rest of the family. The second we made it down the staircase Gil grabbed petey and brought her back to sit with him, Al, and Matt. Bella sat with Ludwig and Feli and left room for me to sit next to her. She bounced Luka on her lap and he laughed. His laugh was contagious and he had the whole room laughing with him. He started sucking his thumb and Bella set him on the ground. Petey came over to him and she sat in his lap. He started petting her and she started licking his face causing him to laugh again.

"Guys, does anyone have a camera? I need to take a picture of this and get it put on a T shirt or a mug or something." Al said as he made his puppy dog cute face. I grabbed the camera off of the table behind the couch and tossed it to all. He got the perfect picture of Luka laughing as he petted Petey and she licked his chin. It was the cutest baby picture any of us had ever seen.

"Hey guys! We should all totally get a T shirt with this picture on it or something. Maybe we can ask your grandpa, Roma, if we can get this picture developed and blown up real big so we can hang it with all of your guys' baby pictures. Wouldn't that just be perfect." Al said as we all nodded in agreement. He is really good at coming up with the cutest things. He went on talking about all the cool things he could do with this adorable baby photo and then he went to go talk with my grandpa and show him the perfect baby picture while Petey and Luka continued to play.

"Bella, when do you want to leave to go shopping for swim suits?" Feli asked Bella.

"I don't know Feli, do you have any homework or anything you would like to get done first?" She asked.

"Homework? during spring break? You are definitely una chica loca, Bella." Antonio said with a chuckle causing Bella to giggle.

"I guess, I am ready to leave whenever you are Feli. Do you just want to leave now?" She asked him.

"Sure why not, I am excited to see all of the cute bathing suits and to help you pick out a few. You will look so adorable." Feli said. Bella just nodded and they left together to go to the mall to find a few bathing suits for the pool party tomorrow.


	26. Chapter 26

-Mari's POV-  
I got out of bed and stretched. I feel so much better than yesterday. I am ready to take on school. I walked to my closet and started browsing my closet. I pulled out a short black skirt. I decided to pair it with a white button up sleeveless top. I grabbed my white sandals and put them downstairs by the door. I ran back up to my room and grabbed my black rose earrings, my black rose bracelet and my necklace. I set all of my clothes on my bed and went to my bathroom. I showered. I dried off. I walked to the sink. I combed through my wet locks. I put some gel in my hair and decided to leave it down. I applied nude eye-shadow and brown eyeliner, as well as brown mascara. I put on some lip gloss and walked back into my bedroom. I started putting my clothes when I heard a knock at the door.

"Hold on! I am still getting dressed!" I said in a cheery voice. I don't know why but I am super excited for school today. I buttoned up my shirt and zipped my skirt up and ran to the door. I opened it and there Gil stood.

"Hey Bella, Roma wanted me to make sure you got up. He is already downstairs with the rest of the guys." He said and I nodded.

I went back to my bed where my earrings and necklace and bracelets were. I put them on and then went back into my closet to grab my purse. I ran downstairs and into the kitchen.

"Good morning!" I said as I waved to them. I saw lukas sitting on Roma's lap. He was giggling and then he looked at me and started reaching for me. I smiled and took him from Roma. I scooped the little boy up and kissed him on top of the head. He started sucking his thumb and rested his head on my shoulder.

The guys all waved and went back to their breakfast. I walked further into the kitchen and grabbed a banana. I started to peel it when I heard the phone ring.

RING...RING...RIN- "Hello, Maribella speaking." I said.

"Hola Maribella, tengo un promblema." My father said from the other line. (Hi Maribella, I have a problem.)

"What's wrong dad?" I asked him.

"Well, they want to keep me here for a while longer. We are way behind schedule with things and I might not be home until mid may." He said.

"Mid May? Why are they keeping you there for two more months?" I asked worry filling my voice.

"I already told you, we are way behind schedule. I will call you every night until then okay. I will be able to pay any bills from here."

"Well actually I have been staying at the Vargas household for the past week." I said in a timid voice.

"Why?"

"Well, I have something to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Well, I am sort of, kind of, the new caretaker of an orphaned infant which makes you his legal guardian."

"How on earth did that happen! How are you going to take care of it all by yourself while I am gone?"

"That is why I have been staying at the Vargas house, all of my friends have been helping me take care of Lukas and their grandfather bought me all the supplies I needed for him because he owns the store. Well I actually bought it but it came at a really really discounted price because he owns the store. I have already been keeping up with Doctor visits for Lukas so I would say things are going pretty good right now. Sorry this all happened. I didn't really have a choice, I mean I can't just leave the little guy. I have a lot of support Dad so I think I can do this." It was silent on the other end for about two minutes. I held my breath the entire time.

"Well, I can't wait to meet the little guy. Well, I have to go. I love you, bye." The line went dead and I turned around and took a bite of my banana, All the guys were staring at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Who was that?" Al asked.

"It was my dad, he won't be home for two more months. Is it okay if I stay here for awhile?" I asked Rome.

"Of course it is okay. You are part of the family. If you need anything we are here for you. " He said. I thanked him and went to the front door to put my shoes on and grab my backpack.

"Well, shouldn't we be getting to school?" I said and the guys all nodded and made their ways out of the house and to their cars. I have work today. We all have work today. I am excited. I sat in the leather seat right next to Roma and held his hand.

We arrived at the school and we all got out of the car. Roma held my hand as we approached the trunk to grab our bags. We continued holding hands and walking close together as we entered the school building. The boys were greeted with their regular swarm of fan-girls that Roma and I weaved our way through so we could make our way towards our lockers. We put our books and everything that we didn't need in the metal boxes and closed our locker doors.

"Hey when is our modeling job at the mall, like when do we have to be there today?" I asked Roma.

"I believe he said 7-9 and we said we would work every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We also said we would work the second Saturday of every month. So we will have time to do homework before and band practices too if we want to. "

"Oh, don't you guys have soccer practice every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after school?" I asked him.

"Yeah but that is only from 1:45-3:45." He said. I nodded.

"I am going to watch you guys practice today but I will probably run home and Grab lukas first."

"Okay, after work can we study together for our English test? I really don't understand the book." He said. I nodded and we made our way back to class.

I sat down next to Roma and We held hands. I opened my book and scanned the pages. The bell rang and students filed in. Antonio sat on the other side of me and class began.

"I've graded everyone's projects. I am happy to say that the class average was a 92%. It seems as if we need to do more creative assignments like that every time we have a project. Everyone understands the book better that way." He said. He passed our grade sheet back to me.

"What did we get Bella?" Antonio asked.

"We got, 100%!" I said as I waved the paper in front of his face.

"Ay chica! Estoy muy feliz!" He said making a silly face.

"I knew we would do a good job. We are a great team." I said.

"Hey we should be partners for all of our projects!" Antonio said and Roma and I nodded.

The rest of class was spent playing jeopardy as a review game for our test. Antonio, Roma, and I won the review game and got the bonus points. We left 1st period and walked through the halls to our next class.

-Roma's POV-  
We walked the halls and I heard whispers as we walked by. Girls spreading rumors about Maribella, boys wolf whistling and commenting on her appearance. I was getting frustrated. I shouldn't be. What is wrong with me? Normally I don't notice this maybe I am just worried. I shake all my negative thoughts a way and put on a smile. I am dating the prettiest girl in the universe. I shouldn't be freaking out. As we were walking I noticed that girl staring at Mari. She was smiling a wicked smile and the glanced up. I looked to what she was looking at and I saw a bucket in the rafters. Mari was about to walk under it. The girl snapped her fingers and a boy pulled a rope. Just as he did that I pulled the both of us away from the bucket and kissed her on the lips. The bucket fell on the ground and not a single drop of water fell onto her. She is wearing white today so that could have been bad.

There were whistles and cheers as a look of confusion spread acrossed Mari's features.

"Roma? Why did you kiss me so suddenly?" She asked me.

"Turn around, carefully." I said. She did what I asked and saw the hallway drenched with water luckily no one got wet.

"What happened?" She asked. I pointed to the girl who has been bugging Mari and she glared at us. I just smiled and waved before turning into our next class followed by Mari.

-Time Skip: Lunch-  
The Lunch room was buzzing. Maribella and I walked to the table and sat down next to the guys. Alfred was telling stories to the group. Feli was cuddling with Ludwig. Everyone in the group looked genuinely content.

"I heard the news. Dude, why'd you kiss her in front of the entire school? That's so unlike you." Alfred stated right as we took our seats.

"That girl who has been bothering Mari had something planned for her so I had to make sure nothing bad happened. At the time that was the only solution I could come up with." I answered. Al nodded his head and went back to telling stories while the others either listened intently or did homework and such.

I pulled out my lunch. Feli made cabbage, bean& farro soup the night before and I decided to take it to school.

"Hey Mari, I am going to go get a spoon from lunch line. I will be back shortly. Do you need anything?" I asked her. She nodded and smiled sweetly at me. I chuckled and walked away.

As I made my way to where the spoons were I saw that wretched girl who caused the Bella pain. My stomach lurches just looking at that girl because of the images of Bella that pass through my head. Her lying bruised and bleeding on the bathroom floor. Clothes, tattered and unwearable. Tears falling from her eyes and the most desperate and heart-wrenching looks on a human being. All those images ran through my head at the sight of this bully. The girl started making her way towards me. I simply looked away as if I had not seen her at all. I grabbed my spoon and napkin and right as she was about to speak to me, I turned and left. Paying no mind to the girl, I made my way towards my group of friends. I sat back down and draped my arm around Maribella who looked as cute as can be in one of the outfits we got from the store we now work at.

-Time Skip: Soccer Practice (Sorry for all the Time skips, There shouldn't be too many more in this chapter.)-

I went into the locker room. I walked over to my locker and pulled out my uniform. I changed and put the rest of my things away. I walked back out of the room and spotted Maribella on the staircase looking for me. I trotted over to her and gave her a hug. I rested my head on top of hers and took in her scent. She smelled like vanilla and almonds today.

"Do you want me to give you a piggy back ride?" I asked her. She giggled and shook her head no.

"I am wearing a skirt. I do not want to be flashing what I've got to the entire student body. I also want to stretch my legs after being trapped in those god awful people prisons they call desks. I will hold your hand though." She replied. I chuckled and grabbed her hand.

We walked out to the fields together. I walked her over to the bleachers and sat down with her. I still have like 20 minutes before practice starts.

"Hey Roma, I am going to go get Lukas and drop my stuff off at home since I don't have any homework. You can come along if you think you wont miss any practice." She said.

"I can't. It takes like 10 minutes to walk home from here and by the time you get everything you need and grab Lukas I will be like 5 minutes late to practice."

"Oh, well maybe next time then. I will be back soon." She said before kissing me on the cheek and waving. God she is so wonderful.

-Mari's POV-  
I made it home and threw my bag on the floor by the window to the right of the front door. I went into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. There sat Roma's grandfather with little Lukas. When he saw me he smiled.

"I am glad you're back. I need to go to work." He hands me baby Luka and runs out the door and to his car. I cuddle the little guy.

"I missed you soo much, you don't even know." I said as Luka cooed and played with my hair. I grabbed my glass of water. Once I finished it I took Luka, put him in his stroller, grabbed some snacks and liquids for the little guy, grabbed some toys to occupy him and the rest of his necessities and then we were on our way to go watch the guys play soccer.

I pushed the little stroller near to where Artie was reading his book on the bleachers.

"Hey Artie. I see you still can't play. When do you get that thing off anyway?" I asked him. He chuckled and looked up from his book.

"In about a week or so. I see you brought the little man to view the guys." He said. I nodded and we talked until the practice was over.

Roma came over after he showered and cleaned up from soccer. I waved goodbye to Arthur and took Lukas and Roma home.

-Time Skip: First Day of Work-

We entered the store. I was shaking. I am soo nervous. I have never been a model before. Am I even good enough to be a model. Roma looked over at me and noticed my deer in headlights like expression. He chuckled and gave me a big squeeze.

"Bella, you don't need to be worried. You look good in everything you try on so all you really have to do is smile and have fun. We are all modeling together so that should take some of the pressure off of it and add a little fun." He said with a reassuring smile. I am really glad I have him. We walked back into the dressing rooms. The manager was smiling. He pointed us to our rooms.

"You all already have your outfits picked out for you. You can mix and match anything in that room if you please. We only need you to model three or four outfits today so chillax and have fun."

I walked into the room and automatically started picking and choosing my outfits. He said our first picture would be casual like hanging out at the park with friends. I picked a pink shirt that faded to blue at the bottom. I paired it with light blue, jean short-shorts. I grabbed some pink sparkly toms and some other accessories. I wore a pink panda hat, a blue handbag, some pink and blue earrings, a dream-catcher earrings, as well as some bracelets. I walked out of my room and spotted the guys already waiting for the manager to show us what we were supposed to do. The manager came to us and ushered us into a room that was set up with a photographer. We all walked into the middle of the room and just started making poses as the photographer instructed us. All of us were smiling and goofing around and giggling. The photographer and manager of the store looked pleased as well. After about twenty minutes of taking pictures we went back to our dressing rooms to pick our next outfits. Next the manager wanted us to wear something that we would wear to school or to go on a simple date. I already started pulling clothes while my idea of what to wear formed in my mind. I pulled on a spaghetti strapped floral dress that went slightly higher than mid-thigh. I put on a jean jacket, a leather shoulder bag, light brown heels (to match the bag), a dark red beanie, a golden owl necklace, feather earrings, and then I made my way back out to the room with the photographer and manager. I was the first one back in the room which was surprising considering the fact that it took me 10 minutes to find everything I wanted and get it on.

"Wow, you are really good at picking outfits little miss. You have a really unique sense of fashion and the fact that you can pick something out as elaborate as that outfit and get back in here in 10 minutes is astonishing." The manager said. The photographer nodded in agreement.

The guys walked into the room and we started taking fun pictures again. In one of the pictures the photographer wanted us all to dance around and just look like we were having a good time which wasn't hard considering this job alone is super fun. After about 45 minutes the manager finally asked us to go back to our dressing rooms and find out final outfit. He wanted us to wear something that we would wear to a school banquet or an important dinner. I already had exactly what I wanted to wear in my mind. I picked out an aqua skater style dress. I grabbed a brown stringy crocheted vest, a brown shoulder bad, brown boots, pearl earrings, a pearl necklace, and a fancy bracelet. I walked back to the room and again I was the first one there. Either the guys are indecisive or really slow. I walked into the middle of the room and waited for the guys to get back. What was taking them so long. After awhile Roma came in. The manager asked the photographer to take pictures of the two of us together. We took a ton of pictures of the two of us. One picture I kissed Roma on the cheek and he had this adorable blush on his smiling face. Finally the rest of the guys joined us.

"I see you all finally decided to show up." I said as a looked at my pretend watch.

"Well it looks like you guys already started without us anyways." Gil said with a chuckle.

"Well, atleast you all look snazzy. You sir look especially sharp." I said as I hugged Roma.

The manager motioned for us all to commence taking photos again so we complied. We all had a good time. After the last half an hour was over we all headed back to our dressing rooms to change into our original outfits. After I was changed back into my outfit I walked back to where the manager was standing. He was smiling. In a few minutes the rest of the guys joined me.

"I want to thank you guys for agreeing to be our store model's. I really do appreciate it. You guys were great today. As a token of my appreciation, and because we had an awesome first day, I am letting you guys keep the three outfits you picked out today," He said with an even bigger smile than before. We all cheered and walked back to our dressing rooms to grab our outfits. I really love the outfits I picked. They were so cute. I really like this job, I can let my fashion creativity flow and wear what I choose. I even get paid for it. This job is the best. I walked over to Roma and hugged him.

"You were way right." I said.

"What was I right about?" He asked me.

"That modeling with you guys would take the pressure off. I really had a lot of fun today. I can't wait to see where this goes," I uttered.

He chuckled and took my hand. We all walked out of the mall that was closing around us and into the parking lot. We got into our cars and drove home. Today was a good day.


	27. Chapter 27

-Maribella's POV-  
Feli and I walked to his car. Feli unlocked the car and we stepped in. I sat down and buckled up

"Are you ready Bella?" Feli asked before he put the key into the ignition. I nodded and rested my head on the window.

"Are you alright Bella? you look a little stressed." Feli said.

"I just, I am worried for the party tomorrow that's all. I wouldn't mind if it was any other kind of party but it had to be a pool party." I said as I sighed.

"Bella, why are you worried? Do you not know how to swim?" He asked me. I shook my head.

"I know how to swim." I replied.

"Then what's the problem?" He asked me.

"I just don't feel comfortable being in a bathing suit in front of all those people."

"Well, you don't have to go swimming. You can always just wear your bathing suit under some regular clothes and only go swimming if you want to. You don't have to swim. You can just sit at the edge of the pool and dip your feet in or not even be near the water if that makes you feel comfortable." He said. I just nodded and he focused on the road before him.

-Time Skip: at the Mall-

We walked into the mall together. Feli was pulling bathing suits off of racks and handing them to me to put in the cart. I looked at some. A few were way to revealing for me so I put them on the bottom of the pile and the ones I liked more were at the top. Feli practically pulled all of the bathing suits that the store had. We walked to the dressing room and Feli sat down. I took a few bathing suits in with me and Feli stayed out to sort the rest of the bathing suits. I walked out in a purple bikini. I had my arms covering my stomach and I had my eyes on my feet.

"Bella, you look so adorable!" He said.

"I like it, but I don't feel super comfortable wearing this to the party tomorrow. I am going to try on a few more." I said and he nodded.

I went back in and tried on a few more bathing suits before I found the perfect outfit for tomorrow's party. I came out of the dressing room wearing a baby blue one piece with a frilly trim around the top. Feli got up and started shrilly screaming.

"Bella, that is perfect for tomorrow. All the guys will be all over you, Roma will be so jealous." Feli said as he jumped up and down. I smiled at his bright silliness.

"I really like this one. So should I change so we can go home?" I asked him. He shook his head.

"No, we have all night. Let's try on more just for the fun of it. Maybe we will leave here with more than one bathing suit so you have options." He said and I giggled and raced back into the changing room.

"Feli, you should try some on too." I said.

"I am way ahead of you Bella." He said from the changing room next to yours.

After you and Feli went through all of the bathing suits in the pile you picked your top five and went to the check out. Your favorite one was the one that you planned on wearing to the Pool party. You also picked a pink one piece with fringe at the top, a plain red bikini, an orange and yellow tie-dyed bikini, and an aqua bikini that had skirted bottoms. You paid for your things and left the store for the drive home. You put your shopping bags in the back seat and got in Feli's car.

"That was fun Bella. We need to spend more time together just the two of us. We should have a girls night like once a week. Just the two of us spending time away from all the guy drama." He said and I giggled and nodded. The rest of the drive home was quiet other than the radio playing the top 40 hits. I was just resting my head on the window watching the cars and lights and all the scenery pass by. Everything passes by so quickly. Soon we pulled up to the house and we got out and grabbed our bags and headed on inside. The guys were at the door waiting for us.

"You guys were gone forever!" Al said desperately.

"Bella, I missed you. I was kinda worried because you were gone for awhile and I was afraid you got into an accident with my brother's driving. How long does it normally take to go shopping for one bathing suit?" Roma said as he enveloped me in his arms and kissed my head.

"Well, we practically tried on the whole store and we got more than one bathing suit. I got 5." I said.

"My driving isn't that bad." Feli said in an offended tone while the rest of the group just chuckled at him. He is a drama queen.

"Oh, can we see some of the swimsuits you bought?" Francis asked.

"Nope, you will all have to wait until the pool party tomorrow to see even one of them." Feli said and I giggled because he really was going all out with this.

"Bella, are you sure you want to go to that party tomorrow? I don't want you to go if you won't feel comfortable going. If you don't go I will stay home with you and we can just watch movies and cuddle or something." Roma said.

"As tempting as your offer sounds I will be fine, I want to go." I said and he simply nodded. It was 7pm.

"Guys, we have a couple hours to do things, what do you want to do?" Al asked.

"Hmm, we could watch a movie but it can't be a scary one because you, Bella, and Feli always freak out and get no sleep." Roma said.

"We could go get ice cream or we could play video games or we could go to the fair or we could have a band practice and play for the rest of the guys." Al said, he looked excited for the last one.

"What do you think Bella?" Antonio asked.

"I am okay with any of those options." I replied.

"Maybe we could do a band session so the judges of battle of the bands can give us constructive criticism." Roma said.

"Well, we can't really critique you because it wouldn't be fair to the other bands but I am interested to see what genre of music you all play and to get to hear it for the first time." Gil said as Antonio and Francis nodded at his words.

"Well i'm down for that." Al said and so we all left to go to Al and Mattie's house to have a band session together.

Al, Mattie, Roma and I got set up. I sort of already had a song in mind. I called for a group huddle and whispered to my band. We all nodded in agreement and I took the stand.

Baby, seasons change but people don't  
And I'll always be waiting in the back room  
I'm boring but overcompensate with  
headlines and flash, flash, flash, photography

But don't pretend you ever forgot about me  
Don't pretend you ever forgot about me

Wouldn't you rather be a widow than a divorcee?  
Style your wake for fashion magazines  
Widow or a divorcee?  
Don't pretend, d-d-d-don't pretend.

We don't fight fair.  
We don't fight fair.

They say your head can be a prison  
Then these are just conjugal visits  
people will dissect us till  
this doesn't mean a thing anymore.

Don't pretend you ever forgot about me  
Don't pretend you ever forgot about me

Wouldn't you rather be a widow than a divorcee?  
Style your wake for fashion magazines  
Widow or a divorcee?  
Don't pretend, d-d-d-don't pretend.

We do it in the dark with smiles on our faces  
We're dropped and well concealed in secret places, woah.  
We do it in the dark with smiles on our faces  
We're dropped and well concealed in secret places  
We don't fight fair  
We don't fight fair  
We don't fight fair  
We don't fight fair  
We don't fight fair

We do it in the dark with smiles on our faces  
We're dropped and well concealed in secret places, woah.  
We do it in the dark with smiles on our faces  
We're dropped and well concealed in secret places  
We don't fight fair  
with smiles on our faces  
We're dropped and well concealed in secret places  
We don't fight fair

Don't pretend you ever forgot about me  
we don't fight fair  
Don't pretend you ever forgot about me  
We don't fight fair

We got back into our group huddle for our next song. I decided that I wanted to go with a paramore song. I have been in the mood for their stuff lately.

Somehow everything's gonna fall right into place  
if we only had a way to make it all fall faster everyday  
if only time flew like a dove  
Well God, make it fly faster than I'm falling in love

This time we're not giving up  
Let's make it last forever  
Screaming, "Hallelujah"  
We'll make it last forever

Holding on to patience wearing thin  
I can't force these eyes to see the end  
If only time flew like a dove  
We could watch it fly and just keep looking up

This time we're not giving up  
Let's make it last forever  
Screaming, "Hallelujah"  
We'll make it last forever

And we've got time on our hands  
(We've got time) Got nothing but time on our hands  
Got nothing but, Got nothing but  
(We've got time) Got nothing but time on our hands

This time we're not giving up  
Oh, let's make it last forever  
Screaming, "Hallelujah" (Hallelujah)  
Hallelujah

I looked up to see Feli standing and clapping.

"Encore Bella, please one more." He said so we got into our final group huddle of the night and Al picked the song. We all did out little chant and got into our places.

In the end as you fade into the night  
Woah oh oh  
Who will tell the story of your life?

In the End  
As my soul's laid to rest  
What is left of my body  
Or am I just a shell?  
I have fought  
And with my flesh and blood I commanded an army  
Through it all I have given my hart for a moment of glory (I gave it all)

In the end as you fade into the night  
Woah oh oh  
Who will tell the story of your life?  
Woah oh oh  
And who will remember your last goodbye?  
WOAH OH OH  
Cause its the end  
and I'm not afraid  
I'm not afraid to die

I'm not afraid to die, I'm not afraid to die

Born a saint  
But with every sin I still wanna be holy  
I will live again  
Who we are  
Isn't how we live we are more than our bodies  
If I fall I will rise back up and relive my glory

In the end as you fade into the night  
Woah oh oh  
Who will tell the story of your life?  
Woah oh oh  
And who will remember your last goodbye?  
WOAH OH OH  
Cause its the end  
and I'm not afraid  
I'm not afraid to die

In the end as you fade into the night  
Woah oh oh  
Who will tell the story of your life?  
Woah oh oh  
And who will remember your last goodbye?  
WOAH OH OH  
Cause its the end  
and I'm not afraid  
I'm not afraid to die

Who will remember this last goodbye  
cause it's the end  
And I'm not afraid  
I'm not afraid to die

Not Afraid  
I'm not afraid to die  
Not Afraid  
I'm not afraid to die!

We all sat high-fived and took a drink of water. Roma wrapped his arm around my shoulder and we all walked back to where the rest of the group was. Feli was hopping up and down and the rest of them looked happy.

"Man, you guys are great. I think you guys will be one of the better competitors at the battle. You guys must really be working hard." Gil said and we all nodded.

"It as great, but shouldn't we be getting home now so we aren't tired for the party tomorrow?" Mattie asked. We all nodded and made our way to the cars and then to home. Today was a fun day. I sat with Roma but he sat in the middle. He looked exhausted so I let him rest his head on my lap. The drive back home wasn't more than five minutes.

"Roma, we're home." I said as I gently patted his head and he opened his eyes.

We all got out of the car and walked into the house. It was 9.

"Do you guys just want to go to bed or do you want to do something?" Gil said.

"Sundaes!" Al said as he ran into the house. I giggled and ran in behind that sugar-loving boy.

-Romano's POV-  
I watched Bella and Al run into the house excitedly. I chuckled and walked in behind them. The guys were all still trying to pull a sleeping Francis out of his car. I stepped into the house and saw Al pulling practically everything out of the fridge and freezer and pantries. Bella was helping him. I decided to leave them to it and ran upstairs to grab Petey and check on Luka. Luka was laying in his crib sucking his pacifier and watching the mobile turn and listening to the little tune it made. I picked him up and brought him downstairs so he could be with all of us.

I walked into the kitchen and set Luka on the counter. Al and Bella had made a sundae the size of Luka. It was piled high with fudge and sprinkles and whip cream.

"This is good Alfie, we should do this more often." Bella said as she offered me a spoon and her and Al dug in. Al ended up eating most of the ice cream. All of us gathered into Luka's room so we could hear Bella sing. Afterwards we all crawled into bed, well everyone except Al who was running around on a sugar high.

-Time Skip: Next morning-  
I got up and walked to the bathroom. I showered and then combed my hair. I walked to my closet and pulled out my swim trunks with the little tomatoes all over them. I grabbed a polo shirt and my sandals and got dressed. I walked out and walked to Bella's room to wake her up. She rolled over and was about to fall out of her bed before I caught her.

"You are really clumsy you know that." I said and she giggled. She kissed me on the cheek and pushed me out of her room so she could get ready. I went to wake Al up because he was the only one not asleep. He wasn't in his room. I found him asleep outside on the back porch. I poked his stomach and he hopped up and ran inside and to his room to get ready while chanting pool party! at the top of his lungs. Luka was crying so I ran up and found him like always, squirming around with his hands in the air. I picked him up and kissed his forehead before rocking him. I walked into my Grandpa's room.

"You can take Luka today right?" I asked my grandpa as I set Luka down on his bed.

"Sure, We can just go to the park or something today after work. The ladies at work really love him." He said and chuckled. I nodded and picked Luka back up. We walked downstairs and started making breakfast for the guys. I pulled out the eggs and started scrambling them while all of the guys hopped down stairs.

Bella came down and kissed Luka on the forehead before handing him off to my Grandpa. We all ate breakfast and then grabbed out towels and shoes and anything else we would need for the pool party.

"Are you sure you want to go Bella?" I asked to make sure. We nodded and we were off to the party with towels and shoes and all our belongings in tow. We got into our cars, Bella and I were in our usual group with Feli, Ludwig, and Gil, while the other 5 got into Francis' car. This is going to be interesting.


	28. Chapter 28

-Maribella's POV-  
The guys and I arrived at the party. I am nervous. My hands are shaking and my palms are really sweaty. I hope no one wants to shake my hand or give me a high five. I don't want to gross them out. I am so nervous that I am starting to get butterflies in my stomach. This is the first pool party I have ever been too. What if my swim suit makes me look dorky. Do teenage girls even wear one pieces anymore? Is it even possible to wear a one piece and not look nerdy? All these thoughts were racing through my head as we pulled into the driveway at Alyssa's house. Maybe I can try to be friends with Alyssa and put the whole bathroom thing behind me. Roma grabbed my hand and we walked up the rest of the driveway and to the porch to get to her front door. Looking around frantically, I saw the rest of the guys behind me and felt more at ease. I don't need to worry, these guys have got my back. Roma rang the doorbell and a boy who looked to be our age opened the door. He was really quiet. He had black hair and brown eyes. It looked like he was looking straight through us, like we weren't even there.

"Kiku, hey man. I didn't know you would be at this party." Al said.

"Yeah, Aryssa invited me to come because we are neighbors." He said in a silly but still adorable accent. All accents are adorable, especially Roma's accent. He opened the door more and took a step back to let us all in. There were a ton of guys at this party but I only saw a few familiar faces. I saw Alyssa and her little clique floating around on pool chairs out back. A few of the guys were tossing around a volleyball, they were playing pool volleyball. Her pool was massive, so was her house. It looks like she lived in a hotel. She saw the guys and got out of the pool and came over to greet us. She was hopping up and down and making high pitched noises.

"AHHHH I can't believe you guys made it, I didn't even think you would come." She said as she gave each of the guys a hug and said welcome, She gave Romano the longest hug. She got his shirt all wet. He just took it off and she squealed. I let go of Roma's hand and shrank back into the group a little. He didn't even notice that I let go of his hand. I walked over to where Kiku was on the couch all alone reading manga. The guys were too busy hopping in the pool to notice I wasn't there.

"Hi." I said quietly. He didn't look up from his manga so I assumed that he didn't hear me. I didn't want to bother him so I just sat quietly back and started playing with my fingernails. A few seconds later her closed his manga and looked at me.

"Sorry, Herro. I needed to finish that last scene before I could speak. Are you not going to go swimming?" He asked.

"Um, I don't know, I don't want to get in the way of anything so maybe I should just sit here." I said. He got up and pulled me outside to the pool.

"I think maybe I shourd introduce you to some of my friends or something." He said and I nodded following closely behind him.

-Roma's POV-  
I was in the pool talking to Antonio and watching the volleyball game play out before I realized that Bella wasn't even near me.

"Hey Toni, Have you seen Bella?" I asked him.

"Yeah, she let go of your hand after Alyssa hugged you and went and sat over with Kiku and started talking to him." He said.

"Why didn't I wait for her. God, I am going to go find her." I said and hopped out of the pool. I saw Kiku and Bella talking with Heracles and Sadiq. Sadiq looked like he was taking a liking to Bella.

-Maribella's POV-

"It's nice to meet you." I said to the two boys that Kiku introduced me too. I looked down at the ground and Sadiq laughed.

"You're adorable, don't be so shy. Neither of us is going to hurt you. We don't bite." He said and I nodded. He patted me on the head and then I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist and a chin resting on top of my head. I looked up and saw Roma looking at me slightly worried.

"Hi Roma." I said as I put my hands on top of his.

"Hey, I'm sorry the guys and I left you, that was awfully rude. I am supposed to be here helping you relax but instead I left you all by yourself. I just saw the pool and wanted to get in as soon as I could. Sorry." He said as he kissed the top of my head. I smiled and looked back to Kiku, Heracles, and to where Sadiq stood. He wasn't there anymore. Hmm.. I wonder where he wandered off too.

"Do you want to go swimming Bella?" Roma asked me. I nodded. He let go off me and I took off my little cover up. I took off my flip flops and set them next to the chair where my cover up and towel were. I kept my sunglasses on and walked around the edge of the pool with Romano before we found Arthur talking to some other blonde boys. Roma sat down in the water next to them and I sat on the edge of the pool, between Artie and Roma, and dipped my feet in the water. It was nice, not to hot or to cold.

"Hey artie, who are these guys?" I asked him.

"Hello love, these are some guys I know." He pointed to the smallest of the 5, with the platinum hair and the violet eyes, "That is Emil Bondevik." As he said the name the boy waved his hand. Then Artie pointed to the boy standing next to him with blonde hair that had a cross pin in it and blue eyes,"This is Lukas, Emil's brother." He said as Lukas smiled triumphantly and Emil just glared at the word brother. Artie Motioned to the Tallest boy, he was huge and kind of intimidating but he smiled kindly and he wore glasses, "This is Berwald and standing next to Him is Tino." He said and at the mention of the name Tino the happy blond smiled and waved his hand. Berwald just wrapped his arms around Tino and said, "Muh W'fe." I chuckled and Tino looked horrified but then he calmed down when he realized that I wasn't really afraid of the tall boy anymore. Finally before Artie could introduce him the last blond with gravity defying, golden locks, smiled and shook my hand aggressively and said, "I am Matthias, nice to meet you." He said, still grasping my hand in his. I laughed.

"My name is Maribella, but you can call me Mari or Bella, although most people call me Bella. It's a pleasure to meet you." I said as I smiled at them. They all smiled back. I hopped into the slightly cool water and sat on Roma's lap.

"Hey, you're that cute girl from my English class. The one that sits between Antonio and Romano. I knew I recognized you. How do you think you did on the Shakespeare test?" He asked me. I felt Roma tense up when he called me cute so I grabbed his hand and held it in my own.

-Alyssa's POV-  
I watched the little bitch sit in Roma's lap. What the heck. Why is everyone talking to her. That bathing suit makes her look fat. Blue totally isn't her color. I walked over to her chair and took her towel and her cover up when no one was looking. I hid them in the tree in my front yard before I came back to the back yard. I saw her having a nice conversation with the adorable Nordic 5, That should be me in Roma's lap, not her. She was even holding his hand. The nerve of that girl. I walked over to 2 other guys from our English class.

"Hey, Bella looks a little too dry doesn't she? " I said in my happy go lucky fake voice. They nodded their heads.

"How about when she gets up to go talk to Feli in the Lawn-chairs we play a little joke on her." I said they nodded and agreed. Oh how sweet revenge is. She shouldn't have stolen my man and she should've known better than to come to my party when she knew that I wouldn't want her here.  
-Mariebella's POV-  
"I think I did pretty well on the Shakespeare test. I mean I studied that whole week before and even had a mini cram session with Roma the night before to help him get ready as well. I also know this material so I felt strongly about the test." I said.

"Wow, Roma how do you think you did?" Matthias asked.

"I think I did pretty well too. Bella is an exceptional tutor." Roma replied and I blushed. I am an okay tutor, honestly Roma is just a great student I thought to myself. The five guys, Artie, and Roma left to go get snacks. I decided to get up and go sit down next to Feli and wait. He was sunbathing haha he always complains about how he needs to be the perfect golden tan. He is a silly boy. Just as I was making my way to the pool I felt to pairs of arms wrap around my body. The guy at my legs looked like Mattie, only he was extremely tan and had reddish blond hair. I looked back and the guy holding me under my arms looked just like Al only he had tan skin an dark red hair and he was wearing black shades.

"You look a little too dry sugar." The one that looked like Al said.

"We just want to help cool you off." The one that looked like Mattie said. Oh no, they are going to toss me into the water. I screamed as loud as I could right before I didn't feel their arms around me anymore. I was enveloped in cool water. Water flew up my nose and in my mouth and I swallowed some. I was sputtering and coughing. I was choking. I blacked out right before I felt arms around me.

-Roma's POV-  
I heard a terrified scream and rushed out of the house. I saw two guys tossing Bella into the water. I saw Feli get out of his chair and start calling for ludwig and Gil and all of the guys. Everything was moving so slowly. I jumped into the water and grabbed Bella. She was unconscious. She hit her head on the side of the pool and although she wasn't bleeding she was out. I set her on the side of the pool and bent down to see if she was breathing. She was. I called Matt over here and he grabbed Al.

"I need you to call an ambulance, now." I said calmly. They rushed to the house to do what I asked. I didn't want to move her at all because I didn't know if she had a spinal injury. I sat by her and waited. I turned my head and saw Ludwig an Gil threatening the two boys, practically holding them by their collars. The two boys were simply trying to tell their side of the story.

"Hey it was just a joke man, I didn't know she was gonna black out." The one wearing the shades said.

"Well it wasn't a very funny joke now was it?" Gil said angrily.

"Who put you up to this!" Ludwig barked at them.

"That girl." The one that wasn't wearing shades said as he pointed to Alyssa. All of the people were getting out of the back yard to make room for the paramedics that were coming. They lifted Bella up in a stretcher and I climbed into the ambulance behind them. I held Bella's hand the entire time. I turned to see all of the guys rushing to the cars and getting in so they could follow us to the hospital. I also saw the rest of the party goers leaving the party as well. Alyssa was just screaming and ranting about how that bitch ruined her party. Even her little clique of friends left the party. Tears were streaming down my face. How in the world could this have happened. I looked down at Bella. Her breathing was even but she wasn't waking up. I just continued holding her hand as the ambulance made it's way to the hospital.

In a matter of minutes we were at the doors to the hospital rushing Bella in on a stretcher. The paramedics were shouting things at the top of their lungs at the staff. They wheeled her into a room and forced a blue smock thing at me and some radiation pads before allowing me to go into the room with her. They took some X-rays of her head. After the X-rays they wheeled her into a room. I took off the equipment they had me in and I pulled up a chair at Bella's bedside. She looked like she was sleeping. I just held her hand. The doctor let the guys come in one at a time to visit Bella. Feli came in last. He was in tears.

"I should have just stayed with her like I said I would." I said as I looked down at the ground.

"Roma, it isn't your fault. You didn't know this was going to happen." He said as he rubbed my back.

"How are the other guys?" I asked.

"They look mortified. They are out in the waiting room with practically everyone from the party except the guys who tossed her and Alyssa." He said. I nodded.

"Do you think she is going to be alright?" Feli asked me. I shrugged my shoulders.

"The doctor's just took the X-rays not to long ago. I am waiting for them to come back with the results." I said. He just nodded and sat down next to Bella. As soon as he took a seat the doctor came in holding a clip board. I couldn't read the expression on his face.

"I have good news and bad news. What do you want to hear first?" He said.

"What's the bad news doctor?" I asked him as I braced myself for what he was going to say next.

"She bruised her skull and the impact of the fall bruised her tailbone. The good news is that she should wake up soon and will be fine to go home tonight. She doesn't have a concussion oddly enough but I still want her to take it easy for the next week or so. It is going to hurt for her to sit down and to sleep on her back so I wrote a prescription for some pain killers and she can leave whenever she wakes up." He said. I let out the breath that I had been holding in. Thank god she was okay.

"I am going to go tell the guys that she will be okay." Feli said and I nodded as he got up to leave.

I stared at her. I have been holding her hand this entire time. I squeezed her hand a little tighter and felt her squeeze back. I looked at her and she was opening her eyes. She looked bewildered. I chuckled and kissed her on the forehead. I didn't even realize I was crying again.

"Where am I?" She said.

"You're in the hospital."

"Why?"

"You blacked out after those two guys threw you into the pool, the party ended soon after."

"I have one more question." She said.

"What is this a game of 20 questions?" I asked her with a chuckle.

"Why are you crying Roma?" She asked.

"I was so worried. You have been unconscious for a few hours. The guys all came in to see you and practically everyone from the party is in the waiting room, with the exception of Alyssa and the two boys who threw you into the pool. You took a bad spill and I was worried that you wouldn't wake up. I should've been with you the entire time like I said I would. What if you hit your head even harder than you did. I don't want you to die. I don't even want you to hurt. You're not allowed to leave me." I said, crying even harder than before.

"Roma, it isn't you're fault. What did the doctor say anyway?" She asked me.

"He says that you have a bruised tail bone and a bruised skull so you're gonna feel really tender there. He prescribed some painkillers and you are good to go. He wants you to take it easy for awhile okay." I said and she nodded.

"Roma, can we go home now. It smells weird in this room, like cleaners," She said. I chuckled and nodded. She tried to get up but I could tell she was a little dizzy so I gave her a piggy back ride to the front desk after she was changed and ready to leave. The second we walked out to the front desk everyone was running to check on Bella. She looked happy to see everyone but slightly intimidated by all the attention.

"We should give her a break. She is on a road to recovery and we don't want to overwhelm her. That could make her condition worse and I know that no one would want to make her worse." I said and everyone sat back down. The guys looked extremely happy because she was able to leave. Kiku walked up to us and handed me Bella's cover up, her flip flops, her sunglasses and her towel. She put her cover up on and her sunglasses and her flip flops.

"Where did you find these Kiku?" She asked him.

"Werr, your sungrasses were at the bottom of the poor, so I fished those out, and your towr and cover up and frip frops were arr in a tree in the front yard. I confronted Aryssa and she said that she was just praying a joke on you." He said, I could see the disgust in his eyes at the mention of Alyssa's name. Bella just nodded and thanked him.

We walked over to the group after I checked her out of the hospital at the front desk.

"You all didn't have to come check on me. You could've stayed at the pool party and had a fun time without me." Bella said.

"We came because you are our friend and we were worried about you. Also we didn't want to stay at the party of someone who hurt our friend." Matthias said. Bella nodded and blushed. She sure made a bunch of friends.

"I am just glad you are alright." Feli said as he ran up and hugged her.


	29. Chapter 29

-Maribella's POV-  
"I'm fine Feli, I am just sorta sore. Thanks for carrying me Roma."I said.

"Let's go home guys." Roma said and the all nodded. We got into the cars and Drove home.

"It really hurts to sit. I wish cars were tall enough so I could stand in them." I said.

"I know Bella. Hopefully. we won't have to take any long car trips so you won't have to sit very long."Roma said I nodded and cuddled into his shoulder.

When we got home, as soon as I walked into the door, Grandpa Rome was running towards me. He gave me a big hug and looked me over a hundred times to make sure I was okay, I just giggled

"How did this happen?" He asked. I just shrugged my shoulders and went to go find Luka. He was on his back in his crib doing his little wiggly dance. He is a silly baby. I picked him up and tickled his little tummy and he started laughing. I carried him on my hip back downstairs and sat on the couch next to the guys.

"What do you guys want to do tonight?" I asked as I bounced Luka up and down on my lap. The guys all shrugged their shoulders and continued either staring at the TV or at a book.

"I want to do something!" I said as I groaned. Roma chuckled and the guys just continued staring at the mind-numbing television set.

"Tell you what, How about you and I go out on our first official date." Roma said. I nodded and passed the little baby boy to Feli who practically spoils him. Feli followed me upstairs while holding Luka on his hip.

"Do you want me to help you pick out an outfit Bella?" Feli asked me and I nodded as he followed me into my room.

"Where do you think Roma and I are going?" I asked Feli. He shrugged his shoulders.

"I think we should get some inside help." Feli said with a smirk as he whipped out his phone. He texted Ludwig to interrogate Romano for us so I will know how to dress.

-Ludwig's POV-

I can feel my phone vibrating in my pocket. I pull out my phone and notice it's a message from Feli.

'I need you to talk to Roma and ask him about the date so Bella and I know what kind of outfit she should wear.' Okay. I get up and go sit in the chair across from Romano at the table. He looks at me, I can see the way his eyes are questioning my presence.

"Hey Ludwig, ya need something?" He asked me. I nodded.

"I am just wondering, you're taking Maribella out right? Is there anywhere you two are going specifically? I mean Feli and I were talking about going out later tonight, just the two of us, and I don't want to bother you. I just need to know where to avoid so I don't bother you two on your first date." I said hoping he would buy it. He seemed to be buying it.

"Well, I was thinking about possibly taking her to the zoo or maybe to the movies or out to dinner. I will probably take her out somewhere where we can just talk." He said. I nodded and walked back to my spot on the couch.

'Roma says probably the zoo, movies, or maybe something like that.' I texted Feli.

-Bella's POV-  
"Bella, Roma is either taking you to the zoo or the movies or something, Ludwig said. So dress for that. It's a little chillier out today." He said. I nodded and we both started looking for things that could work. Man I have a bunch of clothes. I was searching for a skirt of some kind, I knew it would be chilly but my legs never really her cold. I found a light pink, high waisted skirt. I picked it up and then thought for a moment. I went all the way back to the gray section of my color coded closet and found a gray sweater that was kind of a crop too type thing. I went into the bathroom and tried on my outfit.

"Bella that's so cute, but isn't it a little cold outside?" Feli asked me.

"I will be fine." I said as I walked back to my closet to find a pair of shoes. I grabbed a gray bag and my gray boots and placed all of it on my bed. I walked back into my bathroom and found my pink bracelet, pink earrings, and a necklace my dad gave me as a gift before we moved here. I left my hair down. I put on some pink lip gloss and I decided to go light on the makeup and just put on mascara. I walked back to my bed and slipped on my boots and grabbed my bag.

"Bella you look perfect!" Feli said as he squealed. Just as he finished making silly noises there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Feli and I said in unison. The door opened and there was Romano.

"Are you ready to go Bella?" He asked me, I simply nodded and walked out of my room with him. I noticed how every few steps he would take little side glances to peer over at me. He was blushing like a maniac. I giggled and we continued walking downstairs and out of the house. Roma and I stopped by his car and opened the passenger side door for me. I got in and after I was settled he closed the door for me and walked around to the other side of his car and got in. He put the keys into ignition and we drove off.

"Where are we going Roma?" I asked him in a cute little kid voice as I turned my head to stare at him.

"You'll know when we get there. How did you know to dress the way you did?" He asked me.

"I know people, I have sources." I said and he chuckled at what I said.

"Okay then, well, I want to take you to either the zoo or the park. After that we can go to dinner and maybe just take a walk and hang out." He said." So where do you want to go?" He asked me.

"Let's go to the Zoo, I haven't been to the one here yet and the last time I have ever even been to the zoo was when I was really little." I said and he nodded. I opened the glove box of Roma's car and pulled out a little box filled with CD's.

"Hey Roma can I look at your CD's?"

"Sure Bella, I have some good stuff in there. A lot of it is stuff that I bought but there are a few pop CD's in there that Feli bought me when I first got my car. I haven't listened to any of the stuff he bought me." I searched through his box of CD's, he had Woe, Is Me, Sparks the Rescue, For all those sleeping, Tonight Alive, Chiodos, Slipknot, Arctic Monkeys, Ghost Town, Skillet, Blood on the Dance Floor, Bowling for Soup, A day to remember, The Pretty Reckless, Mayday Parade, Black Veil Brides. He had practically any band I could think of on a CD in this dang box. I shuffled all the way to the back of the box and found some brand new, unused and unopened, punk goes pop CD's.

"Roma, the only CD's that are in here that can sort of be considered pop are these punk goes pop CD's. There are some pretty great tracks on these." I said as I opened punk goes pop 5 and put it into the CD player. The first song that came on was Grenade, covered by Memphis May Fire. "I love this one!" I said as I started singing along to the lyrics. He chuckled.

"You love all music, you practically know the lyrics to anything you've ever heard." He said I simply nodded and giggled before continuing with my singing.

After awhile Roma and I pulled into a parking lot. There were hundreds of little kids running around holding on to their parents hands. Little trolley's stopping and dropping people off at different parts of the parking lot. I could hear the excited screams of the people riding on the rides in the water park part of the Zoo. Everyone was having a good time. I grabbed Roma's hand and we made our way toward the trolley. The trolley screeched to a stop and Roma and I took seats all the way up at the front, right behind the driver. Loaded and ready to go, the trolley started making it's way back to the entrance of the zoo. Roma and I got off and went to buy our tickets. We bought our tickets and went to the entrance. We let them check our bags and made our way into the zoo. I grabbed a map and we stopped to figure out where to go.

"What do you want to see first Bella?" Roma asked. I shrugged my shoulders and looked at the map. I spotted the area with all the Polar Bears.

"I want to go see the Polar bears!" I said as I grabbed Roma by the arm and started running to my destination. We flew by the flamingos and penguins, all the way until we were at the Polar bears. I started hopping up and down and Roma placed his hands on my shoulders. We walked into the building and there was a huge glass wall that showed us what was going on underwater in one room. In the next room there was another glass wall, but it showed us what was happening above the water in the habitat. Underwater a bunch of fish were swimming around while a male polar bear swam after them. Above water there were two baby cubs wrestling while their mama was sleeping close to them. One of the baby cubs tumbled over into the water and decided he was hungry and tried to catch some fish but ended up just swimming up to the glass and staring at a little girl.

"Hey Roma where do you want to go next?" I asked him.

"Can I see the map?" I nodded my head and handed it to him as I stared at the polar bears some more. "Can we go see the reptile house?" He asked. I nodded. He grabbed my hand and we walked out of the building together. A few feet away from us was the Reptile house. We made our way too it and Roma dragged me inside, his eyes were filled with a childlike curiosity as he slowly checked out all of the lizards at the entrance. He looked adorable. He was chewing on his lip and moving slowly from habitat to habitat to look and read about all the little creatures. I stood behind him and just looked at the little things. I hugged him and continued walking with him. Finally we got to the habitat the held the Anaconda. He ran up to it and pressed his face up to the glass. It was lunch time for the anaconda and a zoo keeper came in and threw a bunny in with the anaconda. Roma just watched as the anaconda slowly squeezed the life out of its eyes. I closed my eyes and clung to Roma. I hate when animals eat each other although I know it's the circle of life I just couldn't bear to look at it.

"Roma can we go look at some other animals now?" I asked him. He nodded and tore his gaze away from the homicidal snake. I walked with him to go see the new baby elephant that was born. We walked into the room with the Rhinos and Elephants. Everyone was silent. A small elephant calf was trying to walk but kept falling. The mother elephant would help it up and try to help it get it's balance before pushing it to try again. We all watched in awe as the baby elephant was learning. Finally the large animal figured it out and was walking around. We all cheered and looked at the happy baby elephant. The zoo keepers were busy cleaning up the animals excrement and hiding food over the habitat for the animals to find.

"Did you see that Roma, the baby figured it out!" I said excitedly. He chuckled and nodded. We walked around from habitat to habitat before we found an ice cream stand.

"Do you want some ice cream bella?" Roma asked me I nodded my head and we walked over to the stand. They had hundreds of flavors. I saw an interesting one. Goat cheese ice cream with cherry drizzle. I pointed to that one and Roma ordered it for me. The man behind the cart served up the ice cream and winked at me. Roma just glared at him and the man backed off. I stood behind Roma waiting for my treat. We grabbed out ice cream and found a bench to rest at.

"I am having a lot of fun Roma, this is a really nice first date." I said.

" I am glad you think so, I'm really enjoying myself too. We should do this more often. We have been dating for a few weeks and we haven't had the time to have an official first date yet, I'm sorry it took so long to have one." He said.

"It's fine, I could wait a thousand years for a date as long as I get to see you every day. This is a great ending to a day that started out tragically." I said and he nodded.

"I still can't believe Alyssa would do something like that. I mean that was way out of line. I mean, you could've gone into a coma or even died, I was so worried about you. I thought I almost lost you." He said as tears formed in his eyes.

"It's okay, I am okay, It was all just a prank gone wrong, I hope she isn't mad at me for ruining her party." I said.

"I am mad because she thought it was okay to hurt you. She thinks she runs everything. She thinks she is entitled to everything. Why are you okay with what she did to you?" He asked me, tears threatening to spill onto his cheeks.

"I'm sorry Roma, please don't cry. If you start to cry, I might cry, and then our ice cream will melt and we will get everything messy an-" I felt warm soft lips on mine. I lost my train of thought.

-Roma's POV-  
She was rambling so I kissed her. Her eyes fluttered closed and it was like anything could happen at that moment and neither of us would care because we have each other. I pulled away and took a lick of her ice cream.

"Hey, that's mine, you got your own." She said as she lightly punched my shoulder and pouted.

"Your ice cream was going to drip onto your skirt and besides, mine is already gone. Your ice cream is really tasty by the way." I said as I took another lick. She pushed me away and ran away with her ice cream. I started chasing after her. She was licking her ice cream trying to finish it before I caught up to her. The second I caught up to her she took the last big bite of her ice cream and it was gone. She had this look of victory and did a little dance. Then she stopped and a look of horror spread onto her face.

"Brain FREEZE!" She squeaked and her hands flew up to her temples. I chuckled.

"Try pressing your thumb to the roof of your mouth." She did as I said and then smiled.

"IT WORKED!" She said before she ran away again towards the flamingo habitat. I raced after her. I caught her in my arms and rested my head on top of hers as we stared at the pink birds. Man is it getting chilly.

"Are you cold Bella?" I asked her. She shook her head and continued staring at the birds. I heard her teeth chattering and saw the goosebumps on her legs.

"You little liar?" I said as I tickled her sides.

"What?" She asked.

"You look like you're freezing. We should go find somewhere warm so you can take a break. Maybe we should leave and go get dinner or something and you can warm up in the car on the way there." She simply nodded.


	30. Chapter 30

I took her hand and we made our way out of the zoo. We took the little trolley back to where we parked. I opened the door for her and she sat down. I closed her door then made my way to the driver's side. I sat down and buckled up. I started up the car and turned to her.

"Where do you think we should go for dinner?" I asked her. She just shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, what kind of food do you like?" I asked her.

"Can we get fake Chinese food?"

"What do you mean 'fake' Chinese food?" I asked her.

"Well, my favorite restaurant is Mark Pi's. I have so many memories with that place and I heard one opened up here. Can we go?" I just nodded and took off in the direction of the restaurant. I parked in the parking lot of the run down food shop. It was a small square building with a big cheesy red sign that said open in the window. When we entered the store there was a tank filled with fish and an eel. There was a line leading you up to the counter. I stared at the menu for awhile.

"Do you know what you are going to get Bella?"

"I want to get the almond boneless chicken. It is my favorite." She said.

"I think I am going to get the sesame chicken." I said as we came closer and closer to the counter. The man standing there looked at us and then he proceeded to ask us what we wanted. We gave him our orders and he yelled something to the guys in the kitchen.

"Why do you like this place so much?" I asked bella.

"Well, my dad would take me here all the time after church. He would tell me things about mom and I just liked the time I spent here with him." I nodded and the man handed us our food and we went to go find a place to eat. Bella looked around and then we happened upon a booth that was also a window seat. We took our seats and started to eat our food. Bella was looking outside. I looked out the window. The sky was pink. There were little birds flying around dodging bigger birds. Joggers running with their pets or just alone. Families going for walks and telling jokes and laughing. It looked like everyone was enjoying the nice day. I looked back at Bella and she was still admiring the happiness of the city. I finished up my food and pulled out my fortune cookie. I broke the cookie and was about to read the fortune when Bella snatched it out of my hands.

"Hey, I was going to read that." I said with a mock pouty face.

"It won't come true unless you eat the cookie first."

"But I don't like the way it tastes."

"Do you want your fortune to come true or not?" She asked me. I just silently ate my cookie. When I finished it she handed me the slip of paper. I

"You will go on a journey soon. Well, that's vague. Here read the learning Chinese part." I said as I handed her the paper.

"It says birthday. I can't read the Chinese part. Oh when is your Birthday?" She asked me.

"It's in a few days." I replied.

"Why haven't you told me! I could have had a party planned and invitations sent out and everything by now." She said as she started freaking out.

"It's okay, I don't really want a party."

"How could you not want a party?!"

"I just don't, I have a party every year but it's always a joint party with Feli and I am always the wallflower. No one comes for me. No one wishes me a happy birthday, and a lot of times people will get Feli a gift but completely forget that I am his twin or that I am even present and I-I j-just don't want a party." I said, face flushed.

"Oh Roma. I didn't know. I don't want you to be the wallflower at your own 18th birthday party. I just wanted to throw a nice little party together with maybe the guys, and some of the nice people I met at Alyssa's party. Nothing major. I don't want to overwhelm you. Can I please just do this one thing for you? I mean you've done so much for me and all I have done in return is practically nothing." She said with a look of empathy. Wait empathy?

"Hey Bella have you ever had a birthday party?"

"No, well I probably had one or two when I was a baby but other than that I have no recollection of ever having a birthday party." She said.

"Oh well when is you're birthday?"

"It's may 25th."

"That's the last day of school for us, and we have our graduation ceremony the following day."

"Oh I didn't know that. So anyway back to your party. Can I please put something together?" She pleaded. I nodded my head. She hopped out of her chair cheering. I got up and took our trash to the garbage can and I dragged her to the car so I could take her home and she could get to planning.

-Time Skip: Home-  
"Feli! We have a lot of work to do!" Bella yelled as she walked into the house. All the guys jumped at her rapid entrance and loud voice. Gil looked up at me and I just shrugged my shoulders.

"What do we have to do Bella?" He asked her now that he was in the room along with all the other occupants of the house save for Luka.

"We all have a party to plan." She said.

"I thought you didn't want a party this year Roma." My grandpa mentioned.

"I didn't but she convinced me to let her plan this." I said.

"So what are we doing Bella?" Feli asked her.

"Okay we all know the essentials for a party right? So we need someone to get decorations, we need someone to get food, we need to figure out the music arrangements, and we also need to figure out who is going to watch Luka." She said.

"France, Feli, and I can make the food chica." Antonio said.

"Ludwig, Gilbert, and I can do decorations." Artie said.

"Are you sure artie? I don't want you to hurt yourself." She said. He just waved her off and the three of them left to go buy the decorations.

"Bella, this would totally be the perfect time for us to play for a crowd!" Al said.

"Y-yeah, I-I think we should do it. Th-this c-could be good." Matt said.

"Bella, it will make you more comfortable with preforming in front of people and prepare us for battle of the bands." I said as I wrapped my arms around her. My hands on her stomach and my chin on her head.

"O-Okay, I guess music is covered. Do we know any good babysitters?" She asked me. I looked at my grandpa. He looked at me.

"I guess I could take him to work with me. You all know the ladies love him. He is my wing man." My grandpa said as he winked at me and Bella laughed.

"Well, let's get started then. We only have about three days to get the invites out and everything set up. Should we just do online invites or call people or what?" Bella asked.

"Well, I could just send out a group message and invite everyone." Al said.

"Well, by everyone you mean the people who won't hurt Bella's feelings right?" Feli asked.

"Of course." Al said. He started typing up the text message.

-Time Skip: Setting up-  
"Feli, have you asked Roma about what kind of food you guys want at your party yet?" Bella asked Feli.

"We decided that I was going to make; Pizza, Gelato, 5 cheese mac n cheese, and a four layer cake. The first layer will be vanilla, then chocolate, strawberry, and confetti cake. Antonio is going to make; Churros, Fajitas, nachos, 7-layer bean dip, enchiladas, and magdelenas. Francis just said he was going to focus on making gluten free, nut free, dairy-free, basically anything that one can be allergic to, Francis has it covered." Feli said. She nodded and walked over to Gilbert, Ludwig, and Arthur.

"How are the decorations coming along guys?" Bella asked the three males.

"We have the whit, red, and green streamers up. We have the balloons everywhere. We have the big Italian flag banner with the message on it hanging on the balcony/ loft area. Gil took care of cleaning up and rearranging furniture. We made a makeshift stage outback and we have the food tables set up already." Arthur said.

"I guess everything is almost ready then. Do we have the bouncer yet?" She asked.

"Well, we have a bouncer. Gil and I called in our grandpa because he is good at managing that kind of thing. We just need to type up the list of guests who we invited for him so he knows who not to let into the party." Ludwig said. I walked over to Bella and hugged her from behind.

"You're too good for me. So when does this thing start anyway?" I asked her.

"People should be showing up any minute now. It's almost 7:00 pm. We get to hang out for the first couple of hours and then we have our mini concert at the end. Are you excited?" She asked me. I could see the hope in her eyes.

"Of course I am. I have never had a party like this before. Especially one where I get to be the center of attention for a little while. Feli should be coming down soon too. I think he said he wanted to talk to you." I said. She nodded her head and we looked out the window. We saw Ludwig's grandpa outside. A line that stretched practically around the house had formed. People were chatting and holding gifts and wearing smiles. He finally let the first person into the house. It was Kiku. He was carrying one box with two cards.

"Welcome to the party kiku. I am glad you could make it! There is food and drinks out back. The gift table is in the living room. There is a sine by the staircase informing you were the bathroom is if you need to use it." Bella said with a warm smile.

"I am grad I was invited. I don't normarry get invited to parties." He said. Bella just gave him a fist bump and showed him and the other party guests around the place. There was a slide show in the kitchen that Artie set up that was showing a bunch of baby pictures of Feli and I and all the girls had surrounded the screen and were squealing. I walked back into the kitchen and found Feli.

"Are you coming to the party?" I asked him. He nodded and I helped him carry the rest of the food to the table out back.

"Happy Birthday Roma." Feli said.

"Happy Birthday Feli." I said. He gave me a hug and I walked out onto the porch because Bella was called out there. was talking to her.

"It seems like there are some party crashers," He said as he motioned to the group of three walking back to their cars. It was Alyssa and the two guys who hurt Bella. I walked over to them.

"Why did you come here?" I asked Alyssa. She turned around and looked at me kindly. She walked up to me and enveloped me in a hug and kissed me on the cheek. "Happy birthday Roma." She said and then walked back to her car. I turned around and Bella looked at me. I walked over to her, angry.

"Why would she kiss you?" Bella asked. I just shook my head." I have no idea why she even came. She bothers me so much. I can't believe I was too shocked to prevent her from kissing me. I'm sorry Bella. I didn't mean for anything to happen."

"It's okay Roma. You need to calm down. It's you're birthday. We need to have a fun time. How about we go help the guys set up the stage and get ready to preform." she said. I nodded and I grabbed her hand as we walked into, and then through the house to the backyard. Al and Mattie were setting up the drums. Al spotted us.

"Hey dudes! Can you come set up the microphones and stuff?" Al asked. We both nodded and made our way over to the stage. After we set up all the microphones a large crowd had already formed around the stage.

"What are you guys doing up there?" One of the people from the crowd shouted at us. Bella walked to her mic stand and we all watched her.

"We are setting up the stage for tonight. We are going to play a little something for the all of you. We just need to finish setting up." She said and smiled while we finished setting everything up. She turned back to the crowd with her mic in her hand and opened her mouth to speak. "We are Make Your Move and we are here to top off the night. Get ready to rock!" Bella said with a smile. She looked like a natural on stage people were already cheering. She didn't look nervous in the least. She looked happy. She walked back over to us three. "So these are the songs we are going to do." She said as she showed us the list and we all nodded. She picked some nice ones.

I heard a knock upon my door the other day  
I opened it to find death staring in my face  
The feel of mortal stalking still reverberates  
Everywhere I go I drag this coffin just in case  
My body's tremblin' sends shivers down my spine  
Adrenaline kicks in, shifts into overdrive,  
Your secrets keep you safe, your lies keep you alive  
Snake eyes every single time you roll with crooked dice  
I felt the darkness as it tried to pull me down  
the kind of dark that haunts a hundred year old house  
I wrestle with my thoughts, I shook the hand of doubt  
Running from my past, I'm praying, feet don't fail me now  
I've lost my goddamn  
mind  
It happens all the time  
I can't believe I'm actually  
Meant to be here  
Trying to consume  
The drug in me is you  
And I'm so high on misery  
Can't you see?  
I got these questions always running through my head  
So many things that I would like to understand  
If we are born to die and we all die to live  
Then whats the point of living life if it just contradicts?  
I felt the darkness as it tried to pull me down  
The kind of dark that haunts a hundred year old house  
I wrestle with my thoughts, I shook the hand of doubt  
Running from my past, I'm praying, feet don't fail me now  
I've lost my goddamn mind  
It happens all the time  
I cant believe I'm actually  
Meant to be here  
Trying to consume  
The drug in me is you  
And I'm so high on misery  
Cant you see?  
I've lost myself  
You tried to reach me  
But you just can't help me  
So long  
Goodbye  
You tried to save me, it wont work this time  
'Cause now  
I've lost my fucking mind,  
And theres no fucking time  
I can't believe I'm actually  
Meant to be here  
Trying to consume  
The drug in me is you  
And I'm so high on misery  
Can't you see?  
Oh, can't you see?  
Can't you see?

The crowd was going wild. Everyone was dancing and headbanging. Everyone was cheering and screaming encore. Bella smiled and yelled to the crowd. "You want an Encore! Well I guess we better give em what they want!" She said and we started up the next song.

The words are coming I feel terrible  
Is it typical for us to end like this  
Am I just another scene  
From a movie that you've seen one hundred times?

Cause baby you weren't the first, or the last, or the worst  
And I've got to fill the blanks in the past with a verse  
We could sit around and cry but frankly you're not worth it anymore

So say hello to all the boys at the top of this table that you're under  
Lipstick lullabies  
This is sorry for the last time  
And baby I understand that you're making new friends  
This is how you get by  
The moral this time is  
Girls make boys cry, and I...

On any other day we'd shoot the boy  
But your simple toy  
Had caused a scene like this  
Leave him hanging on the walls  
Just a picture in the hall  
Like a hundred more

Consider this as a gift as you taste him on your lips  
And he's making you scream with his hands on your hips  
I hope he's leaving you empty baby this is just a fix  
For such a simple... little...whore...

So say hello to all the boys at the top of this table that you're under  
Lipstick lullabies  
This is sorry for the last time  
And baby I understand that you're making new friends  
This is how you get by  
The moral this time is  
Girls make boys cry, and I...

Oh whoa, whoa

And your name remains the same  
All that has changed is this pretty face

(And your name)  
So pull the trigger  
(remains)  
It never gets closer  
(the same)  
You want to start over  
Never start over

(All that has changed)  
Pull the trigger  
(is)  
It never gets closer  
(this)  
You want to start over  
(pretty face)  
But never start over

So say hello to all the boys at the top of this table that you're under  
Lipstick lullabies  
This is sorry for the last time  
And baby I understand that you're making new friends  
This is how you get by  
The moral this time is  
Girls make boys cry, and I

Say hello, say hello

Lipstick lullabies  
This is sorry for the last time  
And baby I understand that you're making new friends  
This is how you get by  
The moral this time is  
Girls make boys cry and I...

We sang for the rest of the night. We eventually ran out of songs on the list and just started having the crowd scream songs at us. After our concert all the guests went home and we all cleaned up the mess. Bella looked about ready to pass out. I piggybacked her up the stairs and to her room. I set her on her bed and kissed her forehead. She fell asleep soon after. I can't blame her. Today was a long day.


	31. Chapter 31

-Time Skip: Late April, The night of Battle of the Bands-  
It's show time. My nerves are getting the best of me. My hands are shaking. My upper lip is quivering. I need to calm down. I am going on stage soon and I can't have the jitters while I'm up there or I will throw the whole band off. I walk behind the rest of the guys. Bella looks back and sees the state I am in. She slows her pace until she is walking next to me. She grabs my hand and we walk into the dressing rooms together. She seems so calm and collected. How is she managing this? I am on an emotional roller coaster and her emotions seem like they are floating around in an inner-tube on the lazy river. She turns to look at me.

"I know you are nervous. You don't need to be. We are all going to be up on stage with you. We have been practicing our 7 songs for over a month. We are ready for this. You are ready for this. I believe in you." she said. I brought her hand up to my lips and kissed it. She blushed and I chuckled, She literally just gave a motivational speech and now she is looking sheepish. She is a great girl.

"Dudes! Please hurry, we are up soon and I want to have time to prepare myself for all of the screaming girls, I need to look sharp!" Al says as Bella play punches his arm and he sticks his tongue out at her. We are just a band of silly idiots going up against some serious competition. This ought to work out nicely.

" c-come on g-guys. We h-have a l-lot we n-need to get done. " Matt said in his serious tone. We comply and make our way to the rooms and set our stuff down. Matt and Al go to get changed while Bella and I are already sitting here because we came in what we wanted to wear. Our instruments are all tuned and ready. These 7 songs are going to either make us or break us. I sit down on the couch while I watch Bella pace back and forth with an inquisitive look on her face. She is contemplating.

"What are you thinking about? I know we have everything we need. Do you know who the other bands are?" I asked her. She shook her head and kept pacing back and forth.

"Do you think we are allowed to leave the dressing rooms and scope out the competition or watch their performances? I mean, I don't want to stay cooped up in here the entire time. I would like to get a feel of what we are up against." She said. I grabbed my phone and texted Toni.

'Hey, can we leave the dressing rooms at any point today just to watch battle of the bands before we perform ourselves?' I sent the messaged and got up to stretch my legs a little. It is cramped in this little room and I don't know if I can wait in here for the whole 5 hours. We are the last performance of the night. I walked around a little bit and then my phone beeped. I looked at my messages.

'You can come out and watch the performances but you need to be ready to go on, when It's your turn to.' The message said. I showed the message to Bella and she nodded.

"Al, Mattie, we are going out to watch the other performances. We will be back a few songs before it's our turn!" Bella said. I heard some okays and we left to go see our competition perform.

We find these seats on the sides of the pit. We sit and we watch the first band enter on to the stage. Fans are giggling and waiting for their performance. It was a laid back performance. The vocalist had a great voice but the performance lacked energy and excitement. It left me wanting more. It was kind of unsatisfying. The next group was a country group and they had more energy but all of the songs they played were unfamiliar so the crowd couldn't really sing along. Everything suited their voices nicely but it was all unfamiliar. I watched group after group play and a few hours later we were at the second to last group. We were next. I wanted to stay for the first song so I could see who we were up against.

Alyssa walked out followed by the two boys that pushed Bella into the pool. I felt my face burn up. One of the guys took the drums, the other guy took a guitar and she was the singer. She looked right at Bella. I wish I could just wipe that smug look right off her face. She was doing pop songs. She had a nice voice but herwhole performance just looked like her trying to flaunt her popularity wright in Bella's face. I grabbed her hand and we headed backstage. Alyssa was exiting the stage right as we were about to enter.

"Goodluck guys! You'll need it." Alyssa said as she smirked and walked off. I could see Bella get slightly angry. Her whole aura changed. She grabbed me by the arm and walked right over to Matt and Al.

"I am not taking anymore crap from that girl! I have decided the new songs we are going to sing right now. I know this is short notice but I have to prove myself and these songs will get my message to her perfectly!" She said as she told us the songs. We walked out onto the stage. It was silent. Bella walked over to the mic stand and took the microphone from it. She put it up to her lips.

"Are you guys having fun tonight?! Well, we are about to bring the house down. We are Make Your Move, are you all ready to rock?!" She asked. I heard whistles and cheers and Bella looked at me and gave me a you-can-do-it smile. I started playing and the guys followed along.

Attention, attention everyone!  
I got a couple of things  
I would like to get off of my chest  
Haha  
Friends  
Who the fuck needs them?  
You know who you are!  
Eh hmm.

Caught like a fly  
In a web of your lies  
It's truth be told now  
Or it's meet your demise

So how did it feel?  
When you held the knife  
That you stuck right in my back  
A thousand times

Your grandfather would probably roll in his grave  
If he knew of that person that you had became  
I will not just lay down and take this  
Not again, not again

Oh, you have left my heart, black and blue  
Just like your father did to you

How does it feel, knowing you're barely alive  
See through bloodshot eyes, you're left empty inside  
There I was, strung out and drug through the mud  
I must agree, you're just like me

And when you die  
I won't be at your wake  
No eulogy from me  
Just a smile on my face  
And while God might be busy  
With judging your soul  
I will have slept with the girl  
That you loved most

You have left my heart, black and blue  
Just like your father did to you

How does it feel, knowing you're barely alive  
See through bloodshot eyes, you're left empty inside  
There I was, strung out and drug through the mud  
I must agree, you're just like me

(Just like me)  
(Whooaaa)

Now how does it feel, knowing you're barely alive  
See through bloodshot eyes, you're left empty inside  
There I was, strung out and drug through the mud  
I must agree, you're just like me

I'm no fucking saint  
But at least I'll fucking sing about it  
Oh, the audacity!

She looked right at Alyssa the entire time. Alyssa looked shocked. Bella was singing with so much passion. She sounds amazing. The crowd was dancing and singing and everyone was so exited. Bella walked back to me and kissed me right on the lips before telling me to start the next song. She walked back and saw Alyssa with this look. She looked so annoyed and angry. Like a spoiled little girl who isn't getting what she wants. I chuckled and started up the next song.

If I'm a bad person, you don't like me  
Well I guess I'll make my own way  
It's a circle  
A mean cycle  
I can't excite you anymore  
Where's your gavel? Your jury?  
What's my offense this time?  
You're not a judge but if you're gonna judge me  
Well sentence me to another life

Don't wanna hear your sad songs  
I don't wanna feel your pain  
When you swear it's all my fault  
Cause you know we're not the same(no)  
We're not the same(no)  
Oh we're not the same  
Yeah the friends who stuck together  
We wrote our names in blood  
But I guess you can't accept that the change is good(hey)  
It's good(hey)  
It's good

Well you treat me just like another stranger  
Well it's nice to meet you sir  
I guess I'll go  
I best be on my way out  
You treat me just like another stranger  
Well it's nice to meet you sir  
I guess I'll go  
I best be on my way out

Ignorance is your new best friend  
Ignorance is your new best friend

This is the best thing that could've happened  
Any longer and I wouldn't have made it  
It's not a war no, it's not a rapture  
I'm just a person but you can't take it  
The same tricks that, that once fooled me  
They won't get you anywhere  
I'm not the same kid from your memory  
Well now I can fend for myself

Don't wanna hear your sad songs  
I don't wanna feel your pain  
When you swear it's all my fault  
Cause you know we're not the same(no)  
We're not the same(no)  
Oh we're not the same  
Yeah we used to stick together  
We wrote our names in blood  
But I guess you can't accept that the change is good(hey)  
It's good(hey)  
It's good

Well you treat me just like another stranger  
Well it's nice to meet you sir  
I guess I'll go  
I best be on my way out  
You treat me just like another stranger  
Well it's nice to meet you sir  
I guess I'll go  
I best be on my way out

Ignorance is your new best friend  
Ignorance is your new best friend  
Ignorance is your new best friend  
Ignorance is your new best friend

Well you treat me just like another stranger  
Well it's nice to meet you sir  
I guess I'll go  
I best be on my way out  
You treat me just like another stranger  
Well it's nice to meet you sir  
I guess I'll go  
I best be on my way out

Bella was the one with the smug look. People were having a great time. The pit was full of head banging and Bella was working the stage like she owned it. A lot of girls at the front were fangirling over Al and Matt who were definitely putting on show for the ladies. No one was fangirling over me, but my relationship with Bella. She came up to me and asked me if I wanted to sing the next song. I shrugged and handed her the guitar. I have been teaching her how to play and one of the songs she picked she knew how to play extremely well. I took the mic and began speaking.

"We are going to shake it up a bit. This song is to all of you who act unlike yourselves to fit in. I, I know that you don't want to get made fun of for being different, but I can see that you are all just making yourselves miserable. I want you to be you. Anyone who has a problem with someone else or makes fun of them will get to meet me. If anyone ever feels in danger. My friends and I will help you. All we want is a school that people are happy to go to. Not one where we dread everything about it. We are graduating soon and half of us don't even know each other. We are seniors. We need to get to know each other. I for one don't want to live my life in regret because I was a bystander. " I said. Bella nodded and I could see people in the crowd get the message. People were apologizing to each other. "Now that that's out of the way I am going to sing a little song for you guys!" I said and Bella started playing for me.

Scream, shout  
Scream, shout  
We are the fallen angels

We are the in between, cast down as sons of war  
Struck to the earth like lightning on this world we're torn  
We won't cause the pain of living out their law  
Take joy in who you are we know our wings are flawed

Woah...

We're bored to death in heaven  
And down alone in hell  
We only want to be ourselves

We scream (we scream) we shout (we shout)  
We are the fallen angels,  
We scream (we scream) we shout (whoa-oh)  
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh  
To those who sing alone, no need to feel the sorrow  
We scream (we scream) we shout (whoa-oh)  
We are the fallen angels

Follow the morning star, a light when darkness fell  
The passion left unholy, now you find yourself  
We have nowhere to go, no one to wish us well  
A cry to find our home, our stories they will tell

Woah...

We're bored to death in heaven  
And down alone in hell  
We only want to be ourselves

We scream (we scream) we shout (we shout)  
We are the fallen angels,  
We scream (we scream) we shout (whoa-oh)  
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh  
To those who sing alone, no need to feel the sorrow  
We scream (we scream) we shout (whoa-oh)  
We are the fallen angels

Scream, shout  
We are the fallen angels  
Scream, shout  
Woah oh, woah oh oh oh oh

We scream (we scream) we shout (we shout)  
We are the fallen angels,  
We scream (we scream) we shout (whoa-oh)  
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh  
To those who sing alone, no need to feel the sorrow  
We scream (we scream) we shout (whoa-oh)  
We are the fallen angels

We scream, we shout  
We are the fallen angels  
We scream, we shout  
Woah oh, woah oh oh oh oh  
Woah oh oh oh oh  
We shout whoa,  
We are the fallen angels

I set the mic down and went back to my guitar. Bella did really well. I can't believe she can play the guitar when she has only been practicing for a month. I smiled and she went back to the stage. She grabbed the mic.

"Let's hear it for my boyfriend Roma, for being the sweetest guy in the world! Now, if you know someone who just bullies you or just puts you down, I want you to sing the next song with me. Let's show all of the bullies what we're made of! I believe in all of you!" Bella said as she started singing.

My pride has left me shaking  
Oh I can't believe that you could be deceiving  
My teeth are rotting out my mouth  
From something sweet to poison  
I can live without  
I know you'll die without me

Is it your conscience that keeps you running  
I've got a feeling  
I'm on to something more  
You think you're cunning  
It's so convincing  
You're gonna miss me I've warned you once before

Please doll don't make a scene  
I've got you where I need  
Right when you start to plead  
I shut the lock throw away the key  
God I feel so sorry for you  
Your looks are all you've got  
Attention starved for when you're not  
I know you'll die without me

Is it your conscience that keeps you running  
I've got a feeling  
I'm on to something more  
You think you're cunning  
It's so convincing  
You're gonna miss me I've warned you once before

You've got so much to hide  
It's the truth that you can't abide by  
Killer by trade  
There's no other way  
For you to eat your way out  
Your chains will eat you alive!  
Hell waits for no one  
At least I put up a fight!  
You're left to clean up the blood  
You took my advice in vein!  
And now you're falling away  
No where to run nor to hide!  
You've gotten lost in the wake!  
I know you'll die without me

Is it your conscience that keeps you running  
I've got a feeling  
I'm on to something more  
You think you're cunning  
It's so convincing  
You're gonna miss me I've warned you once before

She had her sassy face on and The whole crowd sang along. She really emphasized the part where she sang your looks are all you've got, attention starved etc. A few of the people in the crowd were really moved to tears. They must be having a hard time. Bella even had a few tears rolling down her cheeks I kissed them away and we continued.

"I know that every body has a story. I know that every bully has family issues, or something that drives them to act this way. I understand that no one has a perfect life. This next song is for everyone. I want each and every one of you to sing your loudest. I want you to feel the lyrics. I want you to understand them. This next song describes the bullies, and the victims. It is about everyone." She said as she walked back to her spot in the center of the stage.

So let's talk  
sit down darling let's talk  
those green eyes could only get you so far  
and I'm wrong  
you know darling I'm wrong  
my mind is weak and now its wandered off

Hello Miss Unfortunate it seems you've lost it all  
you've got the saddest eyes the world has ever known  
darling wipe those tears away  
and let the liquor course through those veins

Ssshhh...  
you stumble to the bed  
your eyes are soaking wet  
you better wipe the makeup from the lovely dress  
dream soft, no nightmares  
you tiptoed round everyone who cares

So let's talk  
come on darling, let's talk  
those green eyes could only get you so far  
yeah, yeah

Hello Mister Fortunate it seems you've got it all  
you've got the best disguise the world has ever known  
drink up your nightmares  
and let the liquor drown out your shame

So let's talk  
come on darling let's talk  
those green eyes could only get you so far  
and I'm wrong  
I know darling I'm wrong  
my mind is weak and now it's wandered off  
yeah, yeah

Give up on love I'm trust-less  
give up on love I'm loveless  
and now it's time to let you go

Give up on love I'm trust-less  
give up on trust I'm loveless  
and now it's time to let you go, yeah

So let's talk  
come on darling let's talk  
those green eyes could only get you so far  
and I'm wrong  
you know darling I'm wrong  
my mind is weak and now its wandered off

In the middle of the song, Bella pulled a girl onto stage. She was really singing and feeling the music. She was crying but she was breathing normally. Bella shared the mic and they finished out the song together. At the end of the song Bella hugged the girl for a few minutes and sent her back to the crowd. People were hugging and appreciating each other. This is a life changing night for everyone.

" Hang with my guys. We still have two songs left. I know it's been a long night but I want us all to leave on a positive note." Bella said. The last two songs we picked were just sassy silly songs that were meant to bring everyone into excited energetic spirits again.

Well, I'm not a vampire  
But I feel like one  
Sometimes I sleep all day  
Because I hate the sunlight  
My hands are always shaking  
Body's always aching  
And the dark is when I feed  
Well, I can lure any woman that I want to in my bed  
With me

And whiskey seems to be my holy water  
Mothers better lock your doors  
And hide your daughters

I'm insane  
Well, I can feel it in my bones  
Coursing through my veins  
When did I become so cold?  
For goodness sake  
Where is my self-control?  
If home is where my heart is  
Then my heart has lost all hope

Well, I'm not a zombie  
But I feel like one today  
Self induced comatose,  
Chemical daze  
My head is always spinning  
From this dizzy blurry vision  
And my stomach has had enough  
I feel like a lady  
That is pregnant with a baby  
'Cause I'm always throwing up

Hi, my name is Ronnie  
I'm an addict  
(Hi, Ronnie!)  
Daddy should have never raised me on Black Sabbath!

I'm insane  
Well, I can feel it in my bones  
Coursing through my veins  
When did I become so cold?  
For goodness sake  
Where is my self-control?  
If home is where my heart is  
Then my heart has lost all hope

God bless all of you now  
'Cause I'm going straight to Hell  
And I'm taking you down with me  
'Cause you know damn well

I'm insane  
Well, I can feel it in my bones  
Coursing through my veins  
When did I become so cold?

I'm insane  
Well, I can feel it in my bones  
Coursing through my veins  
When did I become so cold?  
For goodness sake  
Where is my self-control?  
If home is where my heart is  
Then my heart has lost all hope  
All hope  
All hope

Bella was giggling and the crowd was all goofy again. Bella gave me the mic again because I told her that I wanted to do the last song. I told the other two the song and I made Bella sit in chair to the side of the stage. She looked so confused and I just smiled at her.

" I need you all to do me a favor, be silent and pull out your phone or some sort of light source. I need to give the room a more intimate feel, thanks." I said. The crowd and room was dead silent as they pulled out the phones. The room was all lit up with little lights from phone screens and Bella looked mesmerized.

Al and Mattie and I were starting up the music and I started singing.

She's the girl that no one ever knows.  
And I say hi, but she's too shy to say hello.  
She's just waiting for that one to take her hand  
And shake her up.  
I bet I could.

I wish my heart was always on her mind.  
'Cause she's on mine like all day, all the time.  
Forget me not, forget me now.  
I've come too far to turn around.  
I'm here tonight.

'Cause I'm never going down,  
I'm never giving up.  
I'm never gonna leave,  
So put your hands up.  
If you like me,  
Then say you like me.  
I'm never going down,  
I'm never giving up.  
I'm never gonna leave,  
So put your hands up.  
If you like me,  
Then say you like me.

Whoa, oh, oh, oh.  
Whoa, oh, oh, oh.  
Whoa, oh, oh, oh.  
Whoa, oh, oh, oh.

She's the girl that no one ever knows.  
Works a double just to buy her clothes.  
Nicotine and faded dreams,  
Baby, just believe  
There's no one else like me.

'Cause I'm never going down,  
I'm never giving up.  
I'm never gonna leave,  
So put your hands up.  
If you like me,  
Then say you like me.  
I'm never going down,  
I'm never giving up.  
I'm never gonna leave,  
So put your hands up.  
If you like me,  
Then say you like me.

Whoa, oh, oh, oh.  
Whoa, oh, oh, oh.  
Whoa, oh, oh, oh.  
Whoa, oh, oh, oh.

It's time to fall into my arms.  
'Cause I've been waiting for too long.  
You're an angel,  
Grab your halo,  
And lets fly tonight.

'Cause I'm never going down,  
I'm never giving up.  
I'm never gonna leave,  
So put your hands up.  
If you like me,  
Then say you like me.

'Cause I'm never going down,  
I'm never giving up.  
I'm never gonna leave,  
So put your hands up.  
If you like me,  
Then say you like me.  
I'm never going down,  
I'm never giving up.  
I'm never gonna leave,  
So put your hands up.  
If you like me,  
Then say you like me.

Whoa, oh, oh, oh.  
Whoa, oh, oh, oh.  
Whoa, oh, oh, oh.  
Whoa, oh, oh, oh.

Just say you like me.

"Bella, will you go to prom with me?" I asked her. She looked at me. She was crying. I ran up to her an hugged her.

"I didn't mean to make you cry Bella, I'm sorry." I said she shook her head. She got up and kissed me on the lips.

"I'm not sad, I'm happy. Of course I will go to prom with you. You didn't have to go through all of this, I kinda just thought you were going to go with me anyway. I love you." She said. The crowd was cheering and awwing. I looked over at Alyssa and she looked done. Antonio, Gilbert, and Francis all walked onto the stage.

"We ask that all of the performers come back onto the stage. We are going to crown the best band now." Arthur said. Alyssa pushed everyone out of the way and had a smiley face and the rest of the groups walked on behind her. I could tell she was trying to suck up to get the rest of the judges to like her.

"We think that the best band over all tonight is... Make Your Move! You guys had the best energy and you were the only band that asked for participation from the crowd." The Bad Touch Trio said. Alyssa looked shocked. She stomped her way over and grabbed the mic.

"Obviously this is a case of Favoritism. I want a recount this isn't fair!" Alyssa shouted.

"Okay, we can do this a little differently. How about the crowd decides who wins. The band that get's the loudest cheer wins!" Artie said. Artie walked from band to band pausing to hear the cheers. The crowd and band themselves were silent. When it came to Alyssa's band her band was clapping loudly trying to get some reaction from the crowd. Still silent. Finally, artie came to our band. Everyone, the judges, the crowd, the other bands, everyone except Alyssa's band was cheering. Bella was crying and mouthing the words I love you to the crowd and to everyone. The judges handed us our award and I hugged Bella.

"I love you." I told her and she nodded, she was too overwhelmed to even speak.


	32. Chapter 32

-Maribella's POV-  
Prom. I have never been to any sort of school dance before. What am I even supposed to wear? I have no idea what to do. I feel really anxious. Who do I talk to? I sat down and rested my head in my hands. I got up and walked acrossed the hall. Feli would know what to do.

Knock...Knock...Knock I heard quiet shuffling around the room before the door opened. I was face to chest with Luddy. What is he doing in here? Why isn't he wearing a shirt! I looked up at his face and he was flushed. He moved aside so I could walk into Feli's room. It is like a thousand degrees in here. I make it over to where he is on the floor in front of his couch. He is doing yoga.

"H-Hi Feli, why is it so hot in here?" I asked him. He got up from his yoga and walked over to the thermostat in his room and he turned it back to room temperature. Ludwig must be shirtless and flushed because it is like a billion degrees in this room.

"Sorry Bella, I was just doing this new type of yoga, so what do you need?" He asked me. I shooed Luddy out of the room and threw a shirt at his face before closing the door.

"I have no idea what I am supposed to wear tomorrow. I didn't even know about prom!" I said frantically. He grabbed my shoulders and I started to calm down.

"We can go find a dress right now if you would like." He said. I nodded. I walked out of his room and saw Luddy on the floor in the hallway playing with petey. She is getting so big. He got up and walked over to Feli. Feli kissed him on the cheek and whispered something in his ear. Luddy nodded and Feli took my arm. Feli pulled me down the hallway, the stairs, through the door, and to his car. He turned on the radio and I noticed he was listening to little lion man by mumford and sons but it was a cover. It was a band I have heard a few times. Tonight Alive, they are pretty good. I started humming along and then I started singing it. Feli joined in and it was fun. We were laughing and goofing off. Eventually he turned down the radio and he glanced at me.

"Bella, do you remember when you refused to talk?" I nodded my head.

"Well, I am really glad you changed and are more open now. You have certainly changed all of our lives." He said. I nodded and smiled. I turned the music back up an we continued driving to the mall. We pulled into the parking lot and I turned the music off. I opened up the door and got out of the compact vehicle. Feli walked over to where I was and grabbed my hand. We held hands and walked into the mall haha we were giggling and looking at girly dresses. Little did we know that someone had taken some pictures of the two of us holding hands and hugging and shopping. We walked into the dress shop and we browsed around for a little while. I tried on a few dresses but they weren't doing it for me. We were about to leave when a dress caught my eye. It was a light pink gown. I picked it up and tried it on. I walked over to the store keeper and feli and they were both smiling. I twirled around and Feli and I danced to see how if would do when we dance at prom. It was perfect. We picked a pair of shoes and then left the store. We stopped at a pretzel stand and the both of us got a snack. We sat down at the table and shared our pretzel bites. We were giggling and being goofy like usual. The whole time someone was taking pictures of the two of us. Feli and I got up and walked out of the mall and to the car. Feli opened my door for me and I feigned fangirlyness and he simply chuckled and got in the car. We left the mall.

-?'s POV-

I saved the pictures to my phone. This will help me. I know just how to use these to my advantage. I can't believe that she-devil would cheat on roma. and with his brother of all people. I can't wait to see her crash and burn at prom. Her relationship will be in ruins by the end of the night. Then Roma will be all mine.  
-Roma's POV-

I heard a car pull into the driveway and saw headlights through the window. I walked over to the door and opened it to be met with the sight of Feli fumbling around with his keys. I just laughed and grabbed Bella. She shrieked and I planted kisses all over her face. She giggled and pulled herself off of me.

"So how was shopping?" I asked her,

"It was fantastic! Feli and I did all this goofy stuff and shared pretzels and we got my prom dress and I am excited for tomorrow. Oh and Feli picked up your tie and your flower pin thingy. Feli and I danced a little to try the dress out and we mocked all of the couples at the mall by holding hands and making mushy gushy faces haha. It was great!" She said with all this energy. I smiled and kissed the top of her head. Feli smiled and waved us off before running over to Ludwig and jumping into his lap on the couch. Bella and I walked over to the couch and she sat in my lap.

"So who is taking who to prom?" Bella asked as everyone in the room gathered around.

"well, obviously Luddy and I are going together Bella." Feli said and Bella stuck her tongue out at him.

"I assumed that much, what about the rest of you guys." She asked.

"Well... I was thinking about asking someone." He said quietly. We all looked at him and he shifted uncomfortably. He looked up at mattie and blushed. Mattie looked at him. Confusion clearly apparent on his features. "Mattie, would you maybe like to go to prom with me? I know that we haven't been on any real dates but I was hoping we could go together. I really l-like you." He said as he hung his head waiting to be rejected or yelled at by the smaller, quieter, male. Mattie got up and sat next to gil. He hugged Gil and nodded into his chest. Gil's face was bright red. He placed his hand on Mattie's head and stroked his gold locks. Mattie whispered a few things into Gil's ear and Gil nodded. Feli and I squeeled in excitement.

"So what about the rest of you?" I asked.

"Well, Francis and I are going. You all were aware that we were dating right?" Artie said. I nodded. Although he didn't tell me I could tell those two had something going on. I gave them a thumbs up and that leaves Al and Toni.

"Well, I asked this really cute girl. I think you guys might know her. Her name is izzy." Al said. Bella smiled.

"Is that the pretty girl with curly brown hair in our gym class? The one you always stare at and sometimes when she looks back at you you blush and wave while sending her one of your award winning smiles?" Bella asked. I chuckled at how detailed she is.

"Well, yeah. "He said as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

"I totally ship you two!" Bella and Feli said in unison. The rest of us just laughed before looking at Toni to see who he was going with.

"I am going with Lizzy." Toni said. I laughed. I am so glad he finally worked up the courage to ask her to prom. He has been pacing his room for weeks thinking up a plan to ask her out.

"Lizzy? Is that the girl with long, black, straight hair and really pale skin? The one who is really small. She is like 5 feet tall barely. She also almost always wears bright red lipstick, in our english class?" Bella asked him. He nodded and gave a lazy smile.

"We should all rent a limo or party bus and ride to prom together?!" Bella said. We all nodded our heads in agreement. Bella and I got up from the couch and went to her room. We left the others to sort out the ride situation. Bella put her dress in her closet. I tried to sneak a peak but she pushed me away from the closet and bathroom area. I chuckled and plopped down on her bed. She cuddled up to my side and we just layed there. Not really saying anything. Finally I hear light snoring and chuckle before kicking off my shoes and pulling the covers over the two of us.

-Time Skip: Getting ready for Prom(Bella's POV)-  
Feli helped me zip into my gown. I slipped on my shoes and rushed back into my bathroom. I pulled my hair out of the pony tail and combed through my curls. I sprayed them with hair spray because they looked perfect. They were together and they were loose and I pinned them to one side and smiled at my work. I put on some mascara and lipgloss. I smiled at my work and Feli grabbed my arm and escorted me down the stair case where all of the guys were waiting for us.  
I saw Roma. He smiled and Feli passed me off to him. Ludwig grabbed Feli's hands and helped him with his pin. Roma helped me with my corsage. Mattie and Gil were holding hands. Al was hugging Izzy. Toni was helping Lizzy with her corsage. Artie and Francis were also holding hands. The 12 of us made our way to the limo. The guys helped their dates into the Limo and sat next to them. We all made small talk on the short drive to the high school. We got out of the Limo and approached the large building. Music was blaring inside and you could see the light show through the windows. As we made our way through the door I saw a lot of people staring at the 12 of us. A lot of girls looked confused at the fact that 6 of the guys didn't have dates. They didn't realize that Mattie, Gil, Ludwig, Feli, Artie, and Francis were gay. None of them have come out. Feli was looking worried but Luddy gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and Feli calmed down a little. We all sat at the tables where dinner was being served. After dinner the girls and I went to the bathroom. The guys just stayed at the table and chatted.

-Roma's POV-

I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. I pulled it out and checked my messages. They were picture messages from an unknown number. I looked through the pictures. They were all of Bella and Feli. Bella was holding Feli's hand and dancing with him and eating pretzels with him. I began to get angry but before I let myself freak out I pulled Feli to the side.

"What do you need Roma?" He asked me.

"Hey, are these the pictures from when the two of you went to the mall the other day?" I asked him as I handed him my phone.

"That's weird, why would someone send you pictures of the two of us. haha, Look how silly Bella and I look at the dress shop. We need to do this more often. It is fun hanging out with her." I calmed down. I began to recall all of the things Bella told me last night when she got home from the mall. I remember, they were just mocking couples. I felt my phone buzz again as Feli handed me my phone back.

I checked the message and it said, 'It looks like Bella isn't into you.' I just blocked the number and headed back to the table with Feli, the girls were back. We all got up and were about to make our way to the dance floor when someone came marching our way and saying things.

"Romano, why aren't you breaking up with Maribella or yelling at your brother?" Alyssa asked me as she tapped her foot on the ground angrily. I shrugged my shoulders. Bella gave me this look that said, 'what is she talking about?'

"I'm not breaking up with her because she didn't do anything wrong." I said in a matter of fact voice.

"She went on a date with your brother. They were flirting with each other! How did she not do anything wrong?" She screamed at me.

"Feli, Ludwig, should I tell her or do you want to?" I asked the two of them and they both shrugged their shoulders.

"What do you mean? Why are you bringing Luddy into this?" she asked,

"Feli and Ludwig are dating. They are gay. Why would Feli go after a girl when he is in a relationship with Ludwig. Oh, and he hates when people call him Luddy. Only Bella and Feli are allowed to do that." I said. She looked appalled.

"Ew, you two are gay?" She asked. Ludwig looked angry.

"ew?" Gil said.

"Yeah ew, you let your little brother date boys?" She said.

"Of course he does. What is wrong with a boy dating a boy? What are you, in kindergarten! Not only does he support his brother's decisions but he completely approves of their relationship. That's why I love him." Mattie said in an angry whisper voice. Gil just hugged him and kissed his head.

"You let your foster brother date another Boy, artie?" Alyssa asked appalled

"Don't call me artie, I'm not your friend. People like you are the reason why the 6 of us were reluctant to even come to prom. We are gay and we know that you are too close-minded to keep your harsh opinions too yourself. We don't mind if you don't agree with LGBT rights or our choices, everyone has a right to their opinion but-" Artie was hushed by Francis.

"Shh you don't have to explain yourself to anyone. Alyssa, will you please leave. You are upsetting him and you are just hurting everyone. We would appreciate if you tried to stay away from us tonight." Francis said. She just nodded and got out of our way.

We all made our way to the dance floor. The guys all calmed down and we all danced. Roma had his hands on my waist and I had my arms wrapped around his neck. As we danced around the floor I observed some of our friends. Lizzy and Toni were just hugging and whispering to each other. I turned and saw Izzy and Al. Al had his arms around Izzy. He was hugging her and he rested his head on top of hers. He was humming and the two of them were swaying to the gentle melodies being produced by the song the Dj played. They looked so adorable. Roma lifted my chin so I was looking at him. He kissed me on the lips and we continued to dance. The 12 of us danced until we couldn't feel our feet. My hair was messed up, I was sweating, I took my heels off half way through the dance and Roma let me step on his feet as he did all the dancing and moving around. One of the chaperones tapped me on the shoulder.

"Young lady and sir, the school is about to close down. It is time for you and your friends to leave." He said. We nodded and made our way out to the Limo. All of us just decided to stay at the vargas household because we were too exhausted to go anywhere else do to the hours of dancing. Roma carried me out of the Limo and into the house. I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder. When we entered the house Grandpa rome was sitting in the kitchen. He came over to us and gave us all hugs.

"how was it?" He asked us all.

"well, it started off a little rocky but I think we all had a great night. I mean I know I had a good time." I said. He nodded and Roma took me to my room. I kissed him goodnight and went to my closet to change out of my dress and into some Pj's. I took all of the bobby pins out of my hair before plopping down on my bed and closing my eyes.


	33. Chapter 33

-Romano's POV-  
Graduation. We made it.

I climbed out of bed. I walked to Bella's room. I heard shuffling around. Her dad comes home today. We are going to get him right after we get ready. After we get him we are driving to the graduation ceremony. Today is a big day.

Knock...Knock

"Come in.." Bella said. I opened the door. Petey was stretched out acrossed the bed. She is getting really big. I went over to the bed and sat down on it. I scratched petey's belly and waited.

"Have you figured out what you are going to wear to graduation?" I ask.

"Yeah, I am kind of glad we don't have to wear gowns. I am okay with the cap." She said. I chuckled and went to go grab Luka.

"Don't forget we are leaving soon to go get your dad from the airport. I think all of us are going." I heard a muffled reply and walked acrossed the hallway.

I opened the door. There the little 3 month old baby was. Still as wriggly as ever. I picked him up and bounced him a little. I walked downstairs where the rest of the guys were eating. Some of them looked a little nervous but the rest looked normal. I handed Luka off to my grandpa as I grabbed some cereal.

Just as I was finishing up my bowl of cereal Bella walked downstairs. She was wearing a long, yellow, highwaisted dress. She looked beautiful.

"Are you guys ready to go meet my dad? I am excited." She said. We all put our dishes in the sink and piled into our cars.

-Time Skip: At the airport(Normal POV)-

Maribella walked into the building. Romano was holding her hand. Maribella was also holding Luka on her opposite side. Everyone else followed behind them. They made their way to the gate that her father was supposed to be coming out of. After a few minutes of waiting the gates opened and people filed into the main room. Maribella and Romano searched through the people, looking for her father. The group coming out of the gates began to wean off and still they hadn't spotted her dad. She was beginning to worry. What if he missed his flight? What if he had to stay longer? What if he misses her graduation? All of these questions were running through her head and more. Just before she was about to give up a heavy hand tapped her shoulder. She turned around and was greeted by her father. She gave him a big hug and he returned it. Romano gave him a handshake and the group gathered around to be introduced.

"Who might this little man be?" Her dad asked as Maribella handed Luka to him.

"This is Luka, he is the baby you are gaurdian of until I turn 18." She responded. He nodded and handed Luka back to her.

"Dad, I want you to meet my friends." All of the guys got in line to be introduced.

"This is Romano's twin brother Feliciano." She said as Feli walked up and gave him a handshake and stepped to the side.

"This is Feliciano's boyfriend Ludwig." Ludwig shook her fathers hand and too stepped aside for the next person to be introduced.

"This next pair of boys are the bass guitarist and Drummer of our band. This is Alfred, and his twin brother Matthew." The two boys waved and smiled.

"Behind them is Gilbert, Matthew's boyfriend, and also Ludwig's older brother." Gilbert shook Bella's Father's hand firmly and stepped to the side.

"These two are Gilbert's best friends, Antonio and Francis. The three of them also have a band."

"This is Arthur, Francis' boyfriend, and goalie for the boys soccer team at our school. All of the boys play soccer actually." Bella said. Arthur said hello.

" I know this is a lot to take in dad but just bear with me. There is only one person left for you to meet. Dad, this is Mr. Vargas, Romano and Feliciano's grandfather. He is the one who has been in charge of us while you were gone."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. I have heard a lot of great things about all of you. I am glad my Bella has made so many friends at her new school." He said with a chuckle. After all the introductions had finished Romano spoke.

"I think it is about time that we head off to graduation. We don't want to be late to the ceremony." Romano said and the party agreed.

They headed off to the cars.

-Time Skip: At the ceremony (Maribella's POV)-  
Names are being called one by one. My name is soon. I can't believe that I am graduating. The time I spent at this school has been a dream and now it's over. I try to shake off the nervous feelings. The people ahead of me slowly disappear. One after the other, getting their name called. Then a piece of paper and a handshake are their gifts for passing all of their classes during their 4 years of learning. 25 people ahead of me. I take a step forward in the line and then feel a hand jab my shoulder. I turn around. Alyssa is standing before me.

"Hey Maribella... Congratulations on graduating...uh... I just wanted to apologize. I know I have been a complete jerk this year. All of those things I said to you and your friends. All of those horrible words. I am so sorry for all of the crappy things I did to you. um... goodluck in coll-" I hugged her.

"It's okay, i understand. Congratulations to you too. I know that all of those things you did, there had to have been some reason for them. Someone has to feel pretty threatened and insecure to treat someone the way you treated me."

"You really are sweet like everyone says you are. I don't know why I got so jealous of you. I mean, I was the new girl a few years ago and the school was so nice and accepting and I kind of ruined that with my selfishness. I don't know how to fix what I did to you, but maybe we can get passed it? I mean, we are going to the same college next year and I heard we are going to be roommates." Alyssa said. I nodded.

"Maybe there is something we can do, how about we start an anti bullying project. We can set it up for next year's students to put into action. Maybe working on this can help us get a better understanding of each other." I replied.

"I'd like that." Alyssa said. She smiled and got back into her spot in line. 3 more people until it's my turn to go, I can do this.  
-Romano's POV-

I heard all of what Alyssa had said to Bella. I can't believe Bella actually had the power and self control to make the best of a broken relationship. I watched as Bella walked onto that stage. People cheering, her smiling, cameras flashing, this is it. This is the last time I will be considered a student here. No more going to eat lunch at our table. No more english class in between toni and Bella. I know things won't change between Bella and us guys. We will probably keep up with our silly little hobbies and traditions even through college. I watched as the rest of my friends approached the principal to receive their diploma and handshake. The line is getting smaller and smaller. Proud parents in the audience are crying and cheering for their students that are no longer children anymore. We aren't kids anymore. All those years of being led though school being guided by our peers and teachers are over. We are on our own now. I hear my name called and walk out onto the stage to get my diploma and my handshake from the principal.

This is it. I sure am going to miss this place.


End file.
